India, Feb. 20 -- The Union Government has granted prosecution sanction against former Punjab chief secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, a 1988-batch IAS officer, in a 16-year-old corruption case.

The decision by the ministry of personnel on February 11 came just three months after the Punjab government, prompted by a stern high court directive, forwarded the case to the Centre.

The Centre's order, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, states: "The competent authority... considered that sufficient evidence has been brought on record to establish a prima-facie case for granting sanction under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act."

Janjua served as the state's top bureaucrat for a year in 2022. While he is not the first Punjab chie...