Section 168

Colonial-era administrators wanted to prevent government officials from using their official position, influence, or time to run private businesses on the side, since this could create conflicts of interest, corruption, or neglect of official duty. Many service rules (like conduct rules for civil servants) separately prohibit government employees from engaging in trade; Section 168 backs up such prohibitions with a criminal penalty.

Courts have generally held that this offence applies only where there is a specific legal bar (such as a conduct rule or statute) preventing that particular public servant from engaging in trade — the offence depends on proving that such a binding prohibition existed and was violated. Mere participation in trade by a public servant, without an established legal bar, does not attract this section. No single landmark case has become widely famous under this provision, since prosecutions are relatively rare and usually tied to specific service rule violations.

• Myth: Any government employee who does any side business at all is automatically committing a crime under this section.
  Fact: The section applies only when there is a specific legal rule binding that public servant not to engage in trade; without such a rule, this particular offence does not apply.
• Myth: This section covers private citizens who do illegal trade.
  Fact: This section only applies to public servants — government employees or officials — not to ordinary private citizens.