The Madras High Court today ordered the suspension of a panchayat secretary in neighbouring Tiruvallur district for dereliction of duty in not bringing files sought by the court over pending disciplinary proceedings against a suspended sanitary inspector.
Justice S M Subramaniam issued the order during the hearing of a petition filed by G Jayaprakash, the sanitary inspector, challenging his suspension ordered eight years ago over some service matter.
The court had, in the previous hearing, directed the panchayat official to produce before it the related files and explain why there was a delay of about eight years in concluding the disciplinary proceedings against the petitioner.
The panchayat secretary attended the court today without the files and also did not get instructions from his superiors for the government lawyer.
Pulling him up, Justice Subramaniam said the official had not understood the seriousness of judicial proceedings and had committed dereliction of duty and negligence by not bringing the files and not giving instructions to the government lawyer.
The judge then directed the district collector to place the panchayat secretary under suspension and initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings against him under the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules.
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