Two connected petitions were heard together before the Karnataka High Court involving retired public servants charged with possessing disproportionate assets under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The key questions were whether prior sanction under Section 19 of the PC Act is required for prosecution of a public servant who has already retired before cognizance is taken, and whether the cognizance orders and discharge rejection orders were legally valid. The court held that the pre-2018 amendment to Section 19 applied only to public servants in office at the time of cognizance, so no sanction was required for retired accused persons. The court further held that mere perusal of the final report suffices for taking cognizance, that disputed questions of disproportionate assets are triable and cannot be resolved in writ or quashing proceedings, and that the advanced stage of trial made quashing under Section 482 CrPC inappropriate.