Corruption In Judiciary Worse Than That In Public Departments: Madras HC Calls For Strengthening Of Vigilance System, Surprise Visits, Inspections [Read Order]

"The public servant is expected to maintain utmost integrity and honesty while discharging his/her public duties and responsibilities. There should not be any room or scope for such corruption allegations at all", said the Single Bench.

The Judge expressed the view that corruption is a devil in the society. Corruption is an anti- developmental phenomenon. Corruption is the blockage for the developmental activities of our great nation. Corruption causes greater injustice to the society at large, more specifically, to the poor and downtrodden. "Large scale corrupt practices in various forms prevailing in public services are causing untold agony and common men are struggling even to get their rightful and legal benefits", said the Court.

The bench continued to express regret, that it is painful to pen down that for the implementation of beneficial schemes and Government Orders, corrupt practices in various forms are demanded by the public servants and in some cases, by the higher officials and it is painful that the responsible higher officials are absolutely insensitive in controlling the corrupt practices.

"Corrupt practices are not only demand and acceptance of money, but corrupt practices are prevailing in various forms. Thus creating more awareness and sensitiveness are all paramount importance in order to deal with the corrupt practices in public services", said the bench. adding that it is the constitutional mandate that every Government of the day is expected to be efficient, people-friendly and hypersensitive in the matter of dealing with corrupt practices.

"Corruption eats the welfare of the society like termite", remarked the bench, observing that though, no doubt, the Department of Vigilance and Anticorruption is functioning in the State, the size of the department and the number of officials functioning are not in commensuration with the large scale corrupt practices prevailing in many number of departments.

The bench opined that the department of Vigilance and Anticorruption is to be strengthened to a greater extent, so as to ensure periodical surprise inspections and raids are conducted to deal with the corrupt practices in public services. Adequate number of men and women of integrity and honesty must be engaged for this purpose. There must be full fledged coverage for the entire public administration to eradicate the corrupt practices. There should not be any scope for leniency or misplaced sympathy in dealing with the corruption cases.

"The constitutional Courts across the country have delivered many number of judgments regarding the procedures and the trials to be conducted in the criminal cases in a speedy manner. Even then, there is a slow down in completing the criminal trials in corruption cases and those areas are also to be taken care of by all concerned", reflected the bench.

The Single Judge continued to observe that a decent amount of salary has been paid to the public servants and salary to the public servants now-a-days are institutionally competitive in comparison with their counterparts in private sectors- "Public servants are receiving the salary from the tax-payers' money. The responsibility and accountability is the constitutional mandate. Public servants are expected to perform their duties with utmost care and by maintaining absolute integrity and honesty. However, in reality, the state of affairs prevailing in our great nation is the worrying factor. People are frustrated with the large scale corrupt practices in public services"

Noting that the Court in umpteen number of judgments emphasises the necessity for creating sensitivity in the matter of corrupt practices, the bench lamented that but there is a little scope for improvement in the near future- "There must be a drastic change in the attitude on the part of the competent Authorities and they are expected to work swiftly so as to minimise the corrupt practices currently and to eradicate in future"

"Debates after debates are conducted in many interesting subjects through the media and in the public domain. However, a negligible number of debates are being conducted regarding corruption in our great nation. How the corrupt practices are affecting the development of our great nation to a larger extent is to be portrayed in the public domain. The implications of corruption and its evil consequences are to be made available in the public domain. At the outset, creating sensitivity is more important, which is also a constitutional requirement for efficient and effective Public Administration", said the bench.

The Court was of the opinion that the awareness being created at present is insufficient, so as to cripple down the corrupt practices in public services. "For a moment, dream of a Public Administration free from corrupt practices. Such a dream itself would give immense pleasure and happiness. Dream than an ordinary citizen can enter into any Government Offices and Public Offices and get his works done in a legal and rightful manner without any difficulty, certainly, such an atmosphere would be a joyful event and the same would lead to fast and greater development of our great nation", articulated the bench.

Expressing that the Government of the day is expected to strengthen the Anticorruption wings and periodical and frequent surprise raids/inspections are to be conducted in public offices, the bench observed that further, the assets and the liabilities of the department servants are to be periodically verified as the Service Rules require every public servant is bound to furnish the details of their assets and liabilities. "When the Rule requires such information to be provided to the Department, the same has not been maintained properly in many Departments by many Higher Authorities. The disproportionate wealth is to be periodically monitored. The genuinity and sanctity of the information provided by the public servants are to be properly checked", said the bench.

The bench was of the view that urgent and stringent measures are warranted and appropriate instructions/guidelines are to be issued to all the Government Offices. "The competent Authorities of the Government have the choice to obtain suggestions and expert opinions in the field of Anticorruption and accordingly issue comprehensive instructions/directions/guidelines to deal with the corrupt practices in Public Departments", stated the bench.

The bench was of the view that announcing beneficial schemes alone is insufficient, that the implementation of the beneficial schemes must reach the poor and downtrodden in a hustle-free manner. "Thus by introducing the welfare schemes, the Government cannot attain success. The implementation of such beneficial schemes so as to take the scheme to the poorest of poor in this country would alone lead to success", said the bench.