In a major victory to the Janata Party Chief Subramanian Swamy and an embarrassment to the UPA government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a ruling said that the government should give a sanction to prosecute accused officials within three months.

Accepting the petition filed by Swamy in 2010, the apex court also said that if the government requires more time for legal consultations, it might take another month. But after the expiry of four months, it should be deemed that the sanction  has been provided.

"There should be a time frame and all matters of sanction should be decided in 3 months and if consultations are required then another 1 month can be taken. If in 4 months the authority does not give sanction then it shall be deemed that a sanction has been given," the court said.

Hailing the SC verdict as the victory of constitution and the empowerment of the citizens  Swamy later said that this would remove the major hurdle in getting the government’s sanction.

He said that the verdict has made it possible to “win war against corruption”.

Swamy in 2008 had sought the PMO’s sanction to file a case against the former telecom minister A Raja the prime accused in 2G spectrum allocation case, but he was told that CBI is probing the case.

Later in 2010 Swamy approached the court for alleged delay by the government in granting the sanction.