The very purpose of placing an employee under suspension is defeated if he is conveniently getting 50% of his salary as subsistence allowance without doing any work, due to delay on part of the officials in initiating disciplinary proceedings, the Madras high court judge R sureskumar has said.

WATCH

TOIOPEN APPCOVID-19

CITY
Purpose of suspending employee defeated if he draws salary: HC
Kaushik Kannan | TNN | Sep 3, 2020, 04:41 IST
+1
AA

Madurai: The very purpose of placing an employee under suspension is defeated if he is conveniently getting 50% of his salary as subsistence allowance without doing any work, due to delay on part of the officials in initiating disciplinary proceedings, the Madras high court has said. The observation came as the court took a serious view of the delay on the part of the authorities in initiating proceedings against an employee who was suspended for failing to attend Covid-19 duty in Trichy district. Justice R Suresh Kumar observed that of late, it has become a practice among the authorities to place erring employees under suspension for months or years and even decades together in some cases. However, no disciplinary proceedings are initiated by issuing charge memo against such erring officials.

REMOVE ADS

The court was hearing a petition filed by P Poomani, who had challenged his suspension order issued by the district social welfare officer on April 10. The petitioner claimed that due to lack of transport facilities during the lockdown period, he was unable to attend office and hence sought to treat his period of absence on duty.
EXPLORE BRIEFS
NEWS IN
BRIEF
Your one-minute news catch up

India bolsters presence at strategic heights of Pangong lake area; military talks inconclusive
The Indian Army has further bolstered its presence in at least 3 strategic heights in the southern bank of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, days after foiling China’s “provocative” actions to change the status quo in the area, sources said. Some “readjustments” in deployment of troops were also carried out on the northern bank of the Pangong lake on LAC.

Parliamentary panel ‘discussion’ with Facebook to continue: Shashi Tharoor
A Parliamentary panel looking into alleged misuse of social media platforms has decided to continue its “discussion” with representatives of Facebook, after a meeting that lasted for almost three and half hours on Wednesday, its chairman Shashi Tharoor said. Facebook’s India head Ajit Mohan appeared before the panel amid the Facebook controversy.

Delhi Metro reopening: Only asymptomatic passengers to be allowed to board trains
Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel in Delhi Metro trains after September 7. The passengers will be thermal-screened at the entrance of the stations and would only be allowed in if their temperature is normal. Besides, entry to stations falling under containment zones would be banned, said Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

India reeling under ‘Modi-made disasters’: Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at PM Modi over the state of the economy, rise in Covid-19 cases and “external aggression” at borders, alleging that India is reeling under “Modi-made disasters”. His attack comes after official data showed on Monday that the country’s economy suffered its worst slump on record in April-June.

Not escaping debate, told parties in advance about Question Hour move: Govt
Amid criticism for dropping the Question Hour from the upcoming Parliament session, the government on Wednesday said it is not running away from any debate and that opposition parties were told beforehand about the move. The government is ready for unstarred questions and it has requested presiding officers to facilitate the same, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said.

Cabinet approves ‘Mission Karmayogi’ for civil servants: What it means
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Mission Karmayogi, a scheme for bringing post-recruitment reforms in civil services across the country. Announcing the decision at a media briefing, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said officers and government employees will get an opportunity to improve their performance under the mission.
GO TO BRIEFS

Justice R Suresh Kumar observed that the petitioner is permanently residing at Perambalur district and used to attend the office by taking a bus which takes a total travel time of five hours everyday. The petitioner has not thought of shifting his residence to a nearer place to reach office early or in time. If the authorities speed up the disciplinary proceedings by issuance of charge memo and conduct inquiry and complete the same in the manner known to law, the wastage of money from government exchequer could be avoided. Since for more than four months, no further action against the petitioner in this case, the judge sought explanation from the district social welfare officer on the reasons for delay in initiating disciplinary proceedings against the petitioner.