High court slams disciplinary proceedings going on for years
Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com
Madurai:30.07.3018
Coming down hard on disciplinary committees appointed in various government departments for the delay in their proceedings, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court has directed the authorities to expedite action to prevent losses to the government.
Pointing out that disciplinary proceedings had been kept in cold storage for years together in many cases, the court added that because of the pendency, the government had to pay subsistence allowance to the suspended employees without extracting any work from them.
Justice R Suresh Kumar made these observations while disposing of a petition from a helper of Pathamadai town panchayat in Tirunelveli district who was suspended in 2015. A Varusai Mohaideen moved the court as his suspension for pending disciplinary proceedings had not been reviewed till date. He had joined as a helper under the disabled quota in 2001. However, after 14 years, in 2015, he was issued suspension order claiming that his disability percentage was only 15% and not 50% as mentioned in the certificate produced by him when he joined. As per government directive, only those who have 40% disability and more are eligible to be employed under the quota. The petitioner’s counsel argued that there had been a prolonged suspension since 2015 because of the pending disciplinary proceedings.
The special government pleader told the court that the inquiry officer had submitted a report in April 2017 to the disciplinary authority and all charges against Varusai Mohaideen had been proved and only the final decision by the disciplinary authority was pending. Hearing the submissions, the court expressed surprise as to why the disciplinary authority had neither reviewed the suspension order nor taken any decision to pass a final order in the proceedings despite the inquiry officer submitting the report a year ago.
“Because of this lethargic attitude on the part of the disciplinary authority, the petitioner has unnecessarily suffered a lot, as he had been under prolonged suspension from 2015,” Justice Suresh Kumar said. He observed that apart from the agony faced by the employees, the government had to pay subsistence allowance to them, that too, initially 50% and subsequently 75% of salary. This amount was being paid to every suspended employee without extracting any work, the court said.
Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com
Madurai:30.07.3018
Coming down hard on disciplinary committees appointed in various government departments for the delay in their proceedings, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court has directed the authorities to expedite action to prevent losses to the government.
Pointing out that disciplinary proceedings had been kept in cold storage for years together in many cases, the court added that because of the pendency, the government had to pay subsistence allowance to the suspended employees without extracting any work from them.
Justice R Suresh Kumar made these observations while disposing of a petition from a helper of Pathamadai town panchayat in Tirunelveli district who was suspended in 2015. A Varusai Mohaideen moved the court as his suspension for pending disciplinary proceedings had not been reviewed till date. He had joined as a helper under the disabled quota in 2001. However, after 14 years, in 2015, he was issued suspension order claiming that his disability percentage was only 15% and not 50% as mentioned in the certificate produced by him when he joined. As per government directive, only those who have 40% disability and more are eligible to be employed under the quota. The petitioner’s counsel argued that there had been a prolonged suspension since 2015 because of the pending disciplinary proceedings.
The special government pleader told the court that the inquiry officer had submitted a report in April 2017 to the disciplinary authority and all charges against Varusai Mohaideen had been proved and only the final decision by the disciplinary authority was pending. Hearing the submissions, the court expressed surprise as to why the disciplinary authority had neither reviewed the suspension order nor taken any decision to pass a final order in the proceedings despite the inquiry officer submitting the report a year ago.
“Because of this lethargic attitude on the part of the disciplinary authority, the petitioner has unnecessarily suffered a lot, as he had been under prolonged suspension from 2015,” Justice Suresh Kumar said. He observed that apart from the agony faced by the employees, the government had to pay subsistence allowance to them, that too, initially 50% and subsequently 75% of salary. This amount was being paid to every suspended employee without extracting any work, the court said.
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