Supreme Court Revives Corruption Cases in Andhra Pradesh, Slams 'Travesty of Justice'

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In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has set aside the Andhra Pradesh High Court's decision to quash scores of corruption cases, terming the approach as a 'travesty of justice.' The top court found that the high court's hyper-technical approach had left investigations in limbo and criminal proceedings terminated. The case dates back to 2016 when the Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was shifted from Hyderabad to Vijayawada after the state's bifurcation. The ACB had registered several cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, but the high court quashed them, citing a technicality that the ACB, Vijayawada was not a designated police station. However, the Supreme Court bench of justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma disagreed, saying that the high court's interpretation was flawed. They pointed out that the ACB had been designated as a police station in 2022, and the subsequent clarification issued by the government should have been taken into account. The Supreme Court has now set aside the high court's decision and restrained it from entertaining any more challenges to FIRs on this ground. However, the court has left it open for the accused to challenge the chargesheet filed against them. The judgment is seen as a major victory for the Anti-Corruption Bureau and a setback for those who had sought to exploit technicalities to avoid accountability. The Supreme Court's ruling is expected to have significant implications for corruption cases in Andhra Pradesh and beyond.