Madras High Court
M.Krishna Thejas vs The State Of Tamil Nadu on 9 April, 2025
W.P.No.21812 of 2019
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 09.04.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MS.JUSTICE R.N.MANJULA
W.P.No.21812 of 2019
M.Krishna Thejas
... Petitioner
Vs.
The State of Tamil Nadu, Rep. by
Additional Chief Secretary / Principal Secretary,
Finance (Treasury-II) Department,
Fort St.George, Chennai 600 009.
... Respondent
Prayer : Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India, to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records
relating to the order of the respondent made in G.O.No.36, Finance
(Treasury Account- II) Department dated 05.02.2014 and that of
G.O.2(D) No.16, Finance (Treasury-II) Department dated 21.05.2019 and
to quash the same and to consequently, direct the respondent to extend all
service benefits including promotion to the petitioner on par with his
junior.
For Petitioner : Mr.P.Ganesan for
Ms.G.Priyadharshini
For Respondent : Mr.M.Alagu Goutham, GA
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W.P.No.21812 of 2019
ORDER
This Writ Petition has been filed to call for the records relating to the order of the respondent made in G.O.No.36, Finance (Treasury Account- II) Department dated 05.02.2014 and that of G.O.2(D) No.16, Finance (Treasury-II) Department dated 21.05.2019 and to quash the same and to consequently, direct the respondent to extend all service benefits including promotion to the petitioner on par with his junior.
2. Heard Mr.P.Ganesan, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr.M.Alagu Goutham, learned Government Advocate for the respondent and perused the materials available on record.
3. The petitioner was working as an Assistant Elementary Education Officer. He was given with the charges under Rule 20(1), 20(2) and 20(3)(1) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants Conduct Rules on the allegation that there was a misappropriation of a sum of Rs.13,61,800/- and in view of the failure on the part of the petitioner to ensure devotion to duty and to take all possible steps to maintain the Page No.2 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019 same by exercising due control and authority while he was functioning in the role of Additional Assistant Educational Officer. The further allegation against the petitioner is that during the period between 24.06.1999 and 30.04.2002 the provident funds have been given as cash though it is banned and that, the salary has also been disbursed through Headmaster which is in violation of the rules. So far as the second charge is concerned, it is not proved against the petitioner. As the first charge has been proved against the petitioner, he was imposed with the punishment of stoppage for one year increment without cumulative effect.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that though the punishment appears to be not severe, it caused hurdle on the career progress of the petitioner and that there was no evidence to prove even the first charge against the petitioner. The statement of one of the witnesses given before the Enquiry Officer was brought to the attention of this Court to show that the said witness has stated that the petitioner has got no connection to the misappropriation committed by him and Page No.3 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019 others. So, it is claimed that the charges against the petitioner is recorded to be proved even when there was no evidence against him. It is further submitted that for the occurrence said to have occurred during the year 2001, the charges have been issued in the year 2010 and the petitioner was given with punishment in the year 2014.
5. The learned Government Advocate for the respondent submitted that the petitioner was not charged only for having committed misappropriation but lack of supervision in order to ensure that there was no such misappropriation done by any of the staff working under him.
6. On perusal of the records, it is seen that misappropriation has been committed by the staff of the Educational Department in connivance with the staff of the treasury. Since the inter-departmental individuals are involved in the scam, the enquiry has been conducted by the Treasury Department. From the Enquiry Officer's report, it is seen that he has given a detailed reasons for arriving at the conclusion that the charges against the petitioner was proved. Whenever the bills are approved or Page No.4 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019 sanctioned or taken to the Treasury Department for disbursal, due entries will be made in MTC 70 Register by the Additional Assistant Elementary Officer. In MTC 70 Register, the amount involved in the bills should be written both in words and numbers in green ink and the officer writing the said details would assign his signature also. The said fact was not denied by the petitioner. But, the fraud has been committed by the other individuals who were working under him and forging it by making additions and corrections with the connivance of the Treasury staff and passed fraudulent bills in order to make undue enrichment. Even in the Enquiry Officer's report, it is not found that the petitioner had made corrections or endorsed corrections by affixing his initial or signature.
7. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that only if the petitioner comes to know about those corrections and additions, he can be held responsible for the fraudulent activities of the staff working under him and the petitioner did not play any active role with the culprits. In fact, the rightful person who can stop passing the bills by raising suspicion can be the persons at the end of the treasury. Page No.5 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019 Had it been done at the treasury level, it would have been possible for the petitioner to know about the frauds committed by his subordinate.
8. Each time MTC Register is taken to the treasury for passing the bill and after the cheque / money is disbursed, the MTC Register will be taken back. Naturally when the next bill amount is entered in the MTC Register, the officer who writes the amount in words and numbers may not have any necessity to scrutinize the earlier entries in the absence of any allegations or complaints. It was not the allegation of the respondent that the petitioner had the opportunity to know about the misuse of the MTC 70 Register.
9. Even the Enquiry Officer noted few instances where the petitioner had given memo calling for explanation for the lapses committed by the subordinates. The persons who have committed fraud and caused loss to the revenue have acted in a tactful manner by establishing a network with the Treasury Officials. Despite the petitioner has offered his explanation and the materials placed before the Enquiry Page No.6 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019 Officer did not reveal any active involvement or lack of vigilance on the part of the petitioner, the petitioner was found guilty. When the petitioner has filed a review petition by raising the above point also as one of the grounds, the respondent did not advert to deal with the said fundamental point in detail. The review petition has been dismissed in a routine manner by not dealing with the merits of the grounds raised by the petitioner.
10. Apart from scarcity of evidence, the learned counsel for the petitioner also submitted that the inordinate delay in issuing the charges itself would vitiate the proceedings. The delay cannot be the only reason for defeating the department proceedings when there are serious allegations are involved and lengthy investigation is needed to unearth the facts and the materials to sustain the charges. In fact, the petitioner did not choose to challenge the charges on the ground that it has been issued with an inordinate delay.
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11. Attention of this Court was drawn to the order of this Court held in the case of B.Maximus Vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Others (W.P.No.34197 of 2016 dated 12.04.2022). The above order has been passed after discussing various judgments of the Apex Court on the point that the Court can interfere in the disciplinary action on the ground of delay. The relevant paragraph is extracted hereunder:
“12. In the above decisions, the Courts have interfered with the disciplinary action on the ground of delay alone. There cannot be a better case than the present one for this Court's to interfere and to hold that non-completion of the departmental proceedings pursuant to the impugned charge memoranda cannot be countenanced in law or on facts. In such circumstances, the charge memoranda are liable to be quashed as the same have been kept pending for an extraordinary and agonising length of time for no valid reasons. Moreover, the petitioner is 86 years old and to subject him to enquiry proceedings at this age for no fault of his would only result in grave miscarriage of justice.” Page No.8 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019
12. The learned Government Advocate for the respondent submitted that since the fraud was found in view of the connivance between two different departments and the matter came to light during the audit inspection, it took delay in initiating the disciplinary action.
13. Whatever may be the case, so far as this petitioner is concerned, I do not find any reliable materials to sustain the allegation of lack of scrutiny or supervision. All that had happened behind the back of the petitioner and he did not have any occasion to know about the fraud until the culprits went on leave and the petitioner had chosen to send some other person to the Treasury. It is also learnt that immediately on knowing the misuse, the petitioner had given a compliant to the District Educational Officer. So, there is no lack of involvement or supervision on the part of the petitioner to prevent this kind of actions when it came to his knowledge. Hence, I feel it is appropriate to set aside the impugned orders.
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14. In view of the above stated reasons, this Writ Petition is allowed and the impugned orders in G.O.No.36, Finance (Treasury Account- II) Department dated 05.02.2014 and G.O.2(D) No.16, Finance (Treasury-II) Department dated 21.05.2019 are set aside and the respondent is directed to restore the incremental benefit which was withheld due to the punishment awarded against the petitioner and to regularise the period under suspension in accordance with law and pass appropriate orders within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs.
Index : Yes /No 09.04.2025
Speaking / Non-speaking
Neutral Citation : Yes / No
gsk
NOTE : As the petitioner is working in the Education Department, the Registry is directed to mark a copy of this order to the Secretary to Government, School Education Department, Fort St.George, Chennai – 9. Page No.10 of 12 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 26/05/2025 04:26:42 pm ) W.P.No.21812 of 2019 To
1.The Secretary to Government, School Education Department, Fort St.George, Chennai – 9.
2.The Additional Chief Secretary / Principal Secretary, Finance (Treasury-II) Department, Fort St.George, Chennai 600 009.
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