Madras HC orders probe into employment irregularities

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to constitute a committee of senior officials to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the manner in which candidates were sponsored by the District Employment Exchange for appointments under the priority category.

While dismissing a batch of writ petitions filed by employees who were terminated after they were found to have secured appointments in various Town Panchayats and Municipalities in the erstwhile Tirunelveli district by allegedly using bogus disability certificates, Justice B Pugalendhi observed that," These circumstances disclose either a complete failure in the process of verification or a deeper systemic irregularity in the functioning of the Employment Exchange. In either event, the matter raises serious concerns touching upon the integrity and transparency of public recruitment.".

"The Employment Exchanges are entrusted with the registration of job seekers, sponsorship of eligible candidates against notified vacancies and maintenance of employment records. Thousands of aspiring candidates depend upon the fairness and impartiality of this mechanism for access to public employment. Any manipulation or batch failure in this process not only prejudices deserving candidates but also erodes public confidence in the fairness of recruitment to public service," observed the Judge. 

This Court takes note of the categorical statement made by the CB-CID in its status report that the investigation has revealed similar appointments in various other Municipalities based on disability certificates and that further investigation in respect thereof is presently in progress. The systemic deficiencies noticed in the present batch of cases, therefore, cannot be viewed as confined to the petitioners before this Court but appear to have wider ramifications affecting public recruitment through the Employment Exchanges, said the Judge.   

According to the case, a complaint lodged in 2015 alleged that several persons had obtained appointments as sanitary workers, overhead tank operators and junior assistants between 2005 and 2015 by producing fake disability certificates. The investigation was later transferred to the CB-CID. The investigation revealed that 103 persons had been appointed under the priority quota meant for persons with disabilities. A subsequent medical verification found that only 25 of them were genuinely persons with disabilities. The investigation also found that 13 government doctors had allegedly facilitated the issuance of National Disability Identity Cards on the basis of bogus medical certificates.

Following departmental inquiries, the employees concerned were dismissed from service. Challenging the termination orders, they approached the High Court.

This Court has noted that the irregularities in the present batch of cases appear to have originated primarily at the stage of sponsorship by the District Employment Exchange. The records disclose that the Employment Exchange forwarded the names of the petitioners to the respondent Town Panchayats and Municipalities as persons belonging to the physically disabled priority category, together with disability identity cards and disability certificates, even though they were not actually physically disabled. It remains wholly unexplained as to how such disability documents, containing the photographs, signatures and personal particulars of the petitioners, came into the possession of the Employment Exchange or on what basis they were accepted as genuine.

Taking serious note of the issue, Justice B Pugalendhi directed the Secretary to the Government, Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department, to constitute a committee of senior officers to examine the manner in which disability identity cards and certificates were accepted and forwarded by the Employment Exchange, the reasons for the failure to follow the prescribed order of priority in sponsorship, the role of officials responsible for any lapse, negligence, misconduct or collusion, and whether similar irregularities had occurred in other recruitments.

"The Secretary shall also undertake a comprehensive review of the existing mechanism governing sponsorship through the Employment Exchanges and put in place appropriate administrative and supervisory safeguards to ensure strict compliance with the Government Orders and greater accountability in the sponsorship process, to prevent the recurrence of similar irregularities." 

The Court directed the government to initiate departmental action against the officials concerned wherever warranted and to review the Employment Exchange sponsorship mechanism to prevent recurrence of similar irregularities. The Judge further directed the CB-CID to examine the role, if any, of District Employment Exchange officials in the alleged irregularities and expand its investigation beyond the beneficiaries of the appointments.