HC asks for details of convicted public servants in service
Madurai: Taking a serious view of the fact that a woman convicted in a disproportionate assets case was allowed to continue in govt service,
Madras high court
directed the chief secretary and additional chief secretary/vigilance commissioner to furnish details of the convicted public servants in service, irrespective of rank.
Justice K K Ramakrishnan directed that the report on the action taken against them under 17(c)(i)(1) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1955, be submitted in a month.
Allowing the convicted public servant to continue in govt service is not only deplorable but also shows apathy on the part of the state govt, the court said. "Rule 17(c)(i)(1) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules contemplates that an employee who is convicted by the competent court of law shall be dismissed from service without any further enquiry.
In this case, the petitioner was convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment.
It is shocking to the conscience of the court that no appropriate action is taken against the public servant who was convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and no order of punishment was passed under the said Rules," observed Justice Ramakrishnan.
Petitioner J Amala Jessi Jacquillin joined as an assistant engineer in the rural development and panchayat raj department in 1998 and was promoted as assistant executive engineer, Tuticorin sub-division.
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In Sept 2020, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against her following registration of a case for offences under Prevention of Corruption Act. She was accused of accumulating disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs25.40 lakh in her name and her husband's name between Dec 1, 1999, and Mar 31, 2009.
The trial court convicted and sentenced her to three years of rigorous imprisonment. Subsequently, the HC granted her interim suspension of sentence.
In 2022, another charge memo was issued to her. While the proceedings were pending, a promotion list was published without her name, challenging which she filed the present petition.
The judge observed that the petitioner has no right to continue in employment as she was convicted in a disproportionate assets case in 2024. However, she managed to work in the department. The HC had only suspended the petitioner's sentence.
Two charge memos are pending against her. The relief sought in the petition is misconceived, and the petitioner is not entitled to any relief.
Hence the judge dismissed the petition and imposed a cost of Rs50,000 on the petitioner, payable to the credit of the headmaster of Sethupathi govt higher secondary school in Tiruchuli in Virudhunagar district. The case was posted on July 18 for reporting compliance.
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