The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government on pending disciplinary action against officials across all departments after hearing allegations that ₹2.35 crore meant for Adi Dravidar hostel students in Sivaganga district was misappropriated.
A division bench comprising Justices P. Velmurugan and K.K. Ramasamy heard a public interest litigation petition filed by Sivaganga district resident Sakthivel of Patharakkudi. The petition alleged that funds allocated between 2017 and 2023 for students in Adi Dravidar welfare hostels were not credited to the beneficiaries’ accounts and were instead misappropriated by officials.
The petitioner also alleged that some officials linked to the matter had received promotions, while others had been allowed to retire. The plea sought the transfer of a pending case with the district crime branch to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) for investigation.
Representing the government, the advocate told the court that police had filed a chargesheet before the jurisdictional lower court against 12 people, including a deputy collector and several tahsildars. The government also said that charge memos had been issued against the officials concerned and that the Revenue Secretary had appointed an inquiry officer to conduct departmental proceedings.
The government sought time to file the inquiry report. The judges criticised the delay, observing that the chargesheet had been filed several years after the alleged incident. During the hearing, the bench questioned whether officials should live by exploiting money intended for Adi Dravidar students and made strong remarks about the protection of officials accused of corruption.
The judges also questioned the use of public money to engage government advocates in defending officials accused of wrongdoing. They remarked that changes in government had not altered the alleged mindset of officials and criticised the wider perception that employment should be pursued primarily for opportunities to earn money through corruption.
The court directed the state government to submit, within four weeks, a report detailing the number of officials across all government departments against whom disciplinary proceedings are pending in connection with allegations, along with information on pending appeals and inquiries.
The case places attention on the administrative controls governing welfare payments for students and on the time taken to complete criminal and departmental proceedings. The court’s four-week deadline is the next formal milestone in the proceedings.
