Madurai, Oct 10:
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to submit a detailed report on the number of government officials facing corruption allegations across departments, the cases registered against them and the action taken against them.
A Division Bench comprising Justices P Velmurugan and K K Ramakrishnan issued the direction on Friday while hearing a petition filed by Sakthivel of Sivaganga district, who alleged that government officials, including tahsildars, had misappropriated Rs 2.35 crore allocated for students residing in Adi Dravidar Welfare hostels between 2017 and 2023.
According to the petitioner, the police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) in the case and named eight tahsildars as accused. However, he alleged that no effective action had been taken against them. Some of the officials allegedly received promotions, while others were allowed to retire by the district collectors, he submitted.
The petitioner also alleged that the police were acting in favour of those accused of misappropriating government funds and sought a direction to transfer the investigation to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID).
During the hearing, the Additional Advocate General appearing for the State submitted that investigating officers had been appointed and a chargesheet had been filed before the trial court.
The judges questioned why officials facing corruption allegations continued to remain in government service. Observing that governments might change but officials continued in their positions, the Bench sought details of the departmental action taken against the accused and the current status of the cases.
The State’s counsel sought more time, describing the government as a āthree-month-old babyā during the proceedings. The Bench directed the government to file the report and adjourned the case.