CBI vs R.R. KISHORE

Bench: CB — Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S. Oka, Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari

In Brief

The Supreme Court held that Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1942—which required prior Central Government approval before investigating high-level government officials for corruption offences—has retrospective effect from its insertion date (11.09.2003) following its declaration as unconstitutional by the Constitution Bench in Subramanian Swamy. The Court ruled that Article 20(1) of the Constitution (protecting against ex post facto conviction/sentence) does not apply to Section 6A as it is a procedural provision, not substantive. Once a law is declared unconstitutional for violating Part-III (like Article 14), it is void ab initio under Article 13(2), with no vested right to any procedure existing at the offence's time.

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Constitutional Law Criminal Procedure Separation of Powers Administrative Law Corruption and Anti-Corruption Ex Post Facto Laws Fundamental Rights Article 13(2)

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