High Court asks government to furnish details of probe on irregularities
14 Sep, 2013
An application was filed with the School Education Department of Tamil Nadu under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of the appointments of watchmen and sweepers made by the department.
The reply to the application revealed that out of thirteen appointments made for the posts of watchmen, only two were made on merits and the remaining eleven posts were given to candidates recommended by ministers and politicians. Similarly, in the case of appointments as sweepers, total vacancies were 24 out of which only ten were filled on the basis of merits and the remaining were given on political recommendations.
On the basis of the RTI reply, the applicant, a disabled person who was denied the post by the department, moved the Madras High Court stating that the appointments were illegal and urged the court to quash them. Dissatisfied over the appointments, the Court asked the Additional Advocate General (AAG) to furnish the details of the official who would investigate the irregularities. When the AAG informed the court that the probe will be conducted by an IAS officer, the court suggested it to be done by an IPS officer who would be technically more suited.