MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday directed the state to file a comprehensive report containing details of disciplinary proceedings initiated against erring officials of all departments in the state, the current status of the proceedings, and the actions taken against them.
A bench of Justices P Velmurugan and KK Ramakrishnan passed the order after taking a serious view of the delay in appointing an official to conduct a departmental inquiry against officials who allegedly swindled Rs 2.35 crore sanctioned for monthly assistance for students of Adi Dravidar Welfare hostels in Sivaganga district. The case has been adjourned for a month. The issue came up when the bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by A Sakthivel, state president of Suthanthira Tholilalar Katchi, seeking a CB-CID probe into the issue.
During the hearing on October 6, the bench noted that though the charge memo was issued to the officials in December 2024, no inquiry officer has been appointed even after a lapse of over 20 months. The court then directed the disciplinary authority concerned to appear before it in the next hearing.
But when the matter came up for hearing on October 8, the additional advocate general informed the court that a G.O. was issued on October 7 to appoint an inquiry officer in the case. The judges, however, insisted that the disciplinary authority appear before the court and offer an explanation. On Friday, after the state informed the court that the disciplinary authority had already retired from service, the judges issued the above direction.
According to petitioner Sakthivel, the state government had sanctioned over `2.35 crore for the students of Adi Dravidar Welfare Hostels in Sivaganga district to buy essentials from 2017 to 2023, but the money was swindled by officials.