High Court finds something wrong with Tasmac

Madras High Court criticizes Tasmac for mishandling corruption complaints, orders reinstatement of suspended employees for proper disciplinary action.

Taking into account that complaints regarding a District Manager and a Supervisor of Tasmac allegedly collecting bribes from its outlets in Madurai district had not been addressed properly, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that there was something wrong with the Corporation.

The court was hearing the petitions filed in 2022 by K. Mayakannan, S. Murugan and V. Ramasamy, who were salesmen in Tasmac shops. The case of the petitioners was that the then District Manager of Tasmac, Madurai South, Rajeswari, colluded with the then Supervisor of Tasmac, Tirumangalam, Selvam, and collected bribes every month from the shops under her control. There were also other allegations against Rajeswari.

The petitioners lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, which was forwarded to Tasmac authorities. An inquiry was ordered. The petitioners also submitted their representations.

Since, the grievances of the petitioners were not addressed, they gave an interview to the media. They were suspended by the management on the grounds that their conduct was against the Employees Code of Conduct circular. Challenging the order, the petitions were filed.

Justice B. Pugalendhi observed that the petitioners lodged a complaint, along with the recording of a conversation between Rajeswari and Selvam. The authorities conducted an inquiry and closed it stating that the corruption charges were without any materials and that the alleged conversation in the phone was denied by Supervisor Selvam.

The person against whom allegations were made was transferred to the parent department and it was reported that she had retired from service. However, the petitioners’ complaint had been closed by recording the statement of Selvam that he was not part of the conversation. The available materials showed that there was something wrong in the government-run Corporation. The governemnt should not allow corruption in its funstioning. The corporation had to realise its mistake, the court observed.

Considering the manner in which the issue was handled, the court set aside the suspension orders with liberty to the Corporation to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the petitioners for violating the circular.