Madras high court has directed directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) to file a report on the number of surprise raids carried out by the agency, the amount recovered and prosecutions initiated in the last five years.
The matter was posted on Oct 1 for DVAC to file a report. Therefore, the issue requires consideration at govt level. Madurai : Madras high court has directed directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) to file a report on the number of surprise raids carried out by the agency, the amount recovered and prosecutions initiated in the last five years. However, the state sought some accommodation as govt is discussing the issue with all departments. In the meantime, the judge also sought details of the number of prosecutions initiated pursuant to the inspections and their status and, instead of prosecutions, if any disciplinary proceedings were recommended, the details of the same and their status. If such a condition is prescribed, it may, to some extent, curb corruption in govt offices. At the same time, the existence of a prescribed limit would also ensure that govt servants are not unnecessarily harassed. It appears that there is no common guideline or GO issued covering all govt employees. Considering the larger issue involved, the court expects the views of govt, particularly secretary to Human Resource Management Department, as regards the guidelines available in the respective departments, if any, and the feasibility of issuing uniform guidelines or a GO prescribing the limit of cash that may be possessed by a govt servant while on duty, the court observed.
Justice B Pugalendhi observed that as per the earlier order, the court expected the views of govt on issuance of uniform guidelines or a GO prescribing the maximum amount in possession of a govt servant while on duty. Earlier, the court observed that in the present day, when almost every payment can be made through digital modes, the necessity of carrying substantial amounts of cash to office needs to be addressed by govt by fixing an appropriate threshold limit.