खालील दोन पैकी कोणते विधान बरोबर आहे ?
(a) भ्रष्टाचार प्रतिबंध अधिनियमाअंतर्गत कोणत्याही जन अधिकाऱ्याने केलेल्या गुन्ह्याची दखल घेण्याअगोदर न्यायालयाला त्याच्या विरुद्ध खटला चालविण्यासाठी पूर्वसंमंतीची आवश्यकता असते.
(b) वरील प्रकारची पूर्वसंमंती ही जी व्यक्ती आता जन अधिकारी राहिली नाही त्याच्या बाबतीत ही आवश्यक असते.
पर्यायी उत्तरे :

The correct answer is Option A (Only (a)).

Key Points:
• Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Prior to 2018 Amendment):
• Statement (a) is Correct: Under Section 19(1) of the PC Act, 1988, prior sanction of the competent authority is an indispensable condition precedent for a court to take cognizance of an offence punishable under Sections 7, 10, 11, 13, and 15 alleged to have been committed by a public servant.
• Statement (b) is Incorrect (as per the law applicable in 2016): In landmark judgments such as *R.S. Nayak v. A.R. Antulay (1984)* and *State of Punjab v. Labh Singh (2014)*, the Supreme Court ruled that under Section 19 of the PC Act 1988, no previous sanction was required to prosecute a person who had already retired or ceased to be a public servant on the date the court took cognizance.
• *(Note: Later, the PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 extended protection to retired public servants, but in 2016 when this exam was conducted, only statement (a) was correct)*.
• Hence, Only (a) is correct.
• Key Takeaway: Under the pre-2018 PC Act, prior sanction was mandatory to prosecute serving public servants, but not those who had ceased to hold office.