law: Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
  19. Previous sanction necessary for
  
  prosecution
  (1) No court shall take cognizance of an offence
  
  punishable under section 7, 10, 11, 13 and 15 alleged to have been committed by
  
  a public servant, except with the previous sanction,-
  (a) in the case of a
  
  person who is employed in connection with the affairs of the Union and is not
  
  removable from his office save by or with the sanction of the Central
  
  Government, of that Government;
  (b) in the case of a
  
  person who is employed in connection with the affairs of a State and is not
  
  removable from his office save by or with the sanction of the State Government,
  
  of that Government;
  (c) in the case of any
  
  other person, of the authority competent to remove him from his office.
  (2) Where for any reason whatsoever any doubt
  
  arises as to whether the previous sanction as required under sub-section (1) should
  
  be given by the Central Government or the State Government or any other
  
  authority, such sanction shall be given by that Government or authority which
  
  would have been competent to remove the public servant from his office at the
  
  time when the offence was alleged to have been committed.
  (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the
  
  code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,-
  (a) no finding,
  
  sentence or order passed by a special Judge shall be reversed or altered by a
  
  Court in appeal, confirmation or revision on the ground of the absence of, or
  
  any error, omission or irregularity in, the sanction required under sub-section
  
  (1), unless in the opinion of that court, a failure of justice has in fact been
  
  occasioned thereby;
  (b) no court shall
  
  stay the proceedings under this Act on the ground of any error, omission or
  
  irregularity in the sanction granted by the authority, unless it is satisfied
  
  that such error, omission or irregularity has resulted in a failure of justice;
  (c) no court shall
  
  stay the proceedings under this Act on any other ground and no court shall
  
  exercise the powers of revision in relation to any interlocutory order passed
  
  in any inquiry, trial, appeal or other proceedings.
  (4) In determining under sub-section (3)
  
  whether the absence of, or any error, omission or irregularity in, such
  
  sanction has occasioned or resulted in a failure of justice the court shall
  
  have regard to the fact whether the objection could and should have been raised
  
  at any earlier stage in the proceedings.
  Explanation.- For the purposes of
  
  this section,-
  (a) error includes competency of the authority
  
  to grant sanction;
  (b) a sanction required for prosecution
  
  includes reference to any requirement that the prosecution shall be at the instance
  
  of a specified authority or with the sanction of a specified person or any
  
  requirement of a similar nature.