Srinagar, Sept. 11 -- By Farooq Ahmad Khan

Sanction for prosecuting a public servant looks, on paper, like a stamp: present or absent, granted or refused.

Courts have long treated it that way, as a box to check before a trial begins.

But the law asks harder questions first: Was sanction needed at all under the statute in force when the alleged offence occurred? Who held the authority to grant it? Did that authority actually look at the material, or simply sign what was placed before it? And does the precedent a judge reaches for actually interpret the statute in front of him, or has a rule built for a different law been carried over without anyone checking whether the words match?

That last question decided the fate of a retired offic...