Allahabad High Court Calls for Greater Bureaucratic Accountability in Uttar Pradesh Corruption Cases

The Allahabad High Court has urged the Uttar Pradesh Government to adopt a doctrine of “superior responsibility” to ensure greater accountability of senior bureaucrats in cases involving corruption, administrative misconduct, and failure to implement government policies. The Court observed that meaningful action against corruption cannot succeed unless responsibility is fixed not only on erring officials but also on senior officers who fail to prevent, report, or address wrongdoing within their departments.

The observations were made by Justice Vinod Diwakar while hearing a petition filed by businessman Avnesh Kumar Agarwal, whose application for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) required for passport renewal had been rejected due to two criminal cases registered against him in 2007. During the proceedings, the Court examined a broader issue concerning delays by the State Government in complying with earlier judicial directions relating to corruption monitoring.

The Court noted that despite the State’s repeated assertion of a “zero tolerance” policy towards corruption, directions issued in 2023 to establish a High-Powered Committee for supervising corruption investigations remained unimplemented for nearly two years. Although the committee was supposed to be constituted within six months, it was formed only in December 2025 after fresh judicial intervention.

Expressing concern over the delay, the Court observed that excessive and unchecked discretionary powers often lead to corruption, discrimination, and administrative inefficiency. It remarked that senior officers cannot escape responsibility when fraud, suppression of records, or non-compliance with government policies occurs under their supervision. The judgment emphasized that accountability should extend to failures to take timely corrective action or report irregularities to higher authorities.

In the petitioner’s case, the Court found the rejection of the NOC unsustainable, especially since one criminal investigation had remained pending for almost two decades and another charge sheet was filed only after eighteen years. The Court consequently set aside the rejection order, directed renewal of the passport, and ordered that a copy of the judgment be placed before Yogi Adityanath to ensure further action on administrative accountability reforms.