Prayagraj , The Allahabad High Court has recommended that the Department of Personnel and Training evolve a doctrine of “superior responsibility” to hold senior officers criminally accountable for failing to prevent or punish acts of commission or omission by their subordinates.
It said unchecked discretion in civil service undermines the rule of law and accountability.
The court made the observation while taking exception to the conduct of senior IAS officer Sanjay Prasad, who is Additional Chief Secretary , Uttar Pradesh, and referred the matter to the DoPT for assessment of his suitability for future assignments by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
Justice Vinod Diwakar took exception to Prasad’s “deliberate and calculated” attempt to undermine the authority of the court.
The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Megha Raikwar of Jhansi. The petitioner sought a direction to the state authorities to recover her 15-year-old daughter from the illegal custody of the respondent in the case.
The court was apprised that an FIR had been lodged and the police had filed a chargesheet based primarily on the statements of the accused. However, petitioner alleged that the chargesheet was filed without arraying the “real” accused.
Earlier, the bench had found that the chargesheet was not filed in conformity with the high court’s directions in the case ‘Subhash Chandra & Others vs State of UP’, where it had issued exhaustive directions to ensure that criminal investigations are fair, scientific and legally sustainable.
On February 20, 2026, the Home Department filed an affidavit stating that the state government proposed to challenge the high court’s judgment in the Subhash Chandra case before the Supreme Court.
It requested the court to refrain from passing any further order concerning the implementation or enforcement of its directions issued in the case until the Supreme Court decides on the proposed Special Leave Petition of the state government.
The court deferred the matter and awaited information regarding the status of the proposed SLP but despite a lapse of more than three months since February and more than one year since the judgment in the Subhash Chandra case, no SLP was filed.
The bench observed that the proposed SLP was relied upon by the ACS merely as a justification to postpone scrutiny of the continued non-compliance of the directions, rather than as a bona fide and diligent effort to obtain an authoritative determination from the Supreme Court at the earliest.
In its order on Wednesday, the high court said that “unbridled” and “unchecked” discretion attached to civil service undermines the rule of law and legal certainty, and also frees public officials from accountability.
“Superior officers must be held accountable for the conduct and performance of their subordinates as it is their professional and administrative responsibility to ensure effective delivery of public services,” the bench said.
“Such responsibility may be elevated to criminal liability where the failure to prevent or punish subordinate misconduct leads to criminal acts such as corruption, fraud, wilful suppression, contempt of government orders and gazette notifications,” it added.
The high court then recommended that the DoPT secretary evolve a doctrine of “superior responsibility” to hold senior officers in a hierarchy criminally accountable for “failure to prevent and/or punish acts of commission or omission” on the part of their subordinates.
The court directed that the file be placed before the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet to assess ACS Sanjay Prasad’s suitability for future assignments.
The bench further disposed of the petition as the minor girl was safely recovered by the local police and restored to her parents.
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