Shocked to learn of e-pass corruption: HC

Shocked to learn of e-pass corruption: HC

‘Staff Involved Are Similar To ‘Blood-thirsty Wolves’

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:09.08.2020

Coming down heavily on corruption in issuing epasses to travel during lockdown, the Madras high court has said ‘cut-throat’ officials who behave like ‘blood-thirsty wolves’ should be dealt with an iron hand.

“For the past few months, people are unable to do their work or travel from one place to another for various purposes and they are put to untold misery. Though the government is not responsible for the present situation, some of the corrupt officials involved in issuing epasses are bent upon making booty even in this worst scenario,” said a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice V M Velumani.

The bench was making the observations while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Tamil Desiya Makkal Katchi to trace and rescue several hundred children taken from Tiruvannamalai to be engaged as child workers in private textile mills in Tirupur.

“This is a classic case that could demonstrate how corrupt government servants utilise any situation to make illegal gain,” the judges said.

When the petition filed by C M Sivababu, who heads the petitioner-forum, came up for hearing, the state Child Welfare Committee, which had raided one such mill and rescued children, informed the court that the girls had been transported from Tiruvannamalai across various districts to Tirupur without an e-pass. This apart, the children were not subjected to Covid-19 test, CWC officials told the bench.

Taking a serious view of the same, the court said, “It is not known as to how without proper e-passes, it has been possible to bring the children from one district to another. It only implies that if money is paid, the authorities would bend and flout rules, and without e-passes, people are travelling by bribing the authorities.”

The current case is only the tip of an iceberg. There are allegations that there are brokers available to get e-passes by bribing authorities while people who apply through due process are unable to get them. The bribe ranges from ₹500 to ₹2,000 according to media reports, the bench added.

Noting that the issue has been widely reported in the media, the judges said, “This aspect has to be looked into seriously by the government. It is very shocking to know about such incidents and also about cut-throat corrupt officials in the system.”

The bench then directed Chenniyappa Yarn Spinners Private Limited, which transported the children, to file an affidavit explaining as to how they were able to bring children to work without e-passes.

This is a classic case that could demonstrate how corrupt government servants utilise any situation to make illegal gain

MADRAS HC