The Madras High Court has imposed a fine of ₹50 lakh on the Tamil Nadu government for failing to comply with an order to pay salaries to non-teaching staff at a private college.
The case was brought before the court to ensure the payment of salaries to 12 non-teaching employees hired at GPG Visalakshi Women’s College in Udumalaipettai, located in the Tiruppur district. After hearing the case, the court issued a ruling mandating salary payments to these employees. However, the Secretary of the Higher Education Department, the Director of College Education, and the Joint Director of College Education for the Coimbatore Zone filed an appeal against this decision.
The bench, consisting of Justices R. Subramanian and G. Arulmurugan, who reviewed the appeals, directed that “Director of College Education C. Poorna Chandran must appear and provide an explanation regarding the approval of the appointments, stipulating that no new appointments should be made for the 12 employees approved in 1987.” The government was also required to submit documents concerning the teaching and non-teaching staff positions authorized at Visalakshi Women’s College.
On 29 April 2025, the case was revisited in the High Court. The justices criticized Director Poorna Chandran for appearing in court but failing to respond to any of the court’s questions, which they deemed unfortunate. The judges further accused officials from the Directorate of College Education of obstructing the truth by claiming that the government lacked the necessary documents about the approved staff positions. Consequently, the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal was dismissed, and a fine of ₹50 lakh was imposed.
The bench emphasized that the fine was a result of the non-cooperation and obstinacy of the Directorate of College Education officials. It ordered the Tamil Nadu government to collect ₹25 lakh of the fine from Director Poorna Chandran, with the remaining ₹25 lakh to be recovered from the officers responsible for the disappearance of the documents. Additionally, the court ruled that the 12 non-teaching employees should receive ₹1.50 lakh each in salary within eight weeks. The court also ordered that the remaining ₹32 lakh of the fine paid by the Tamil Nadu government be donated to the Cancare Foundation and Netrodaya Organisations, with ₹12 lakh allocated to each organization within eight weeks. Furthermore, the judges instructed the Higher Education Secretary to take disciplinary action against the officials responsible for the loss of the documents within the Directorate of College Education.
(With inputs from ETV Bharat)
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