Chandigarh, January 31
Instances have surfaced where Punjab government employees convicted for corruption have been taken back into service on “humanitarian” grounds. Reinstatement has followed the convicts’ appeals to state authorities against dismissal from service by their departments upon conviction.
One of the employees - Prem Lata, a naib tehsildar in Patiala division, was taken back into job by a December 2005 order of the then financial commissioner, revenue.
Convicted for corruption by a Patiala court on March 18, 2004, Prem Lata was dismissed from service by the then commissioner, Patiala division. The dismissal was in line with the Supreme Court’s directions in the matter.
She was, however, soon reinstated by the then financial commissioner, revenue, on grounds that her family condition was adverse and the sentence imposed upon her “unjustified”. Her appeal against conviction by the lower court is pending in the high court.
Worrisome it is that her case has become a benchmark of sorts for similarly situated employees, who have been citing her example to get reinstated in jobs despite conviction in corruption cases and subsequent dismissal from service.
For instance, Kulwinder Singh, a kanungo from Kapurthala, recently won his appeal case in the department and was reinstated on “humanitarian” grounds after he was dismissed following conviction on corruption charges. He stated in his appeal that his conviction was not justified, his family condition bad and his appeal against conviction pending in the high court. He cited instances of Prem Lata and Anil Kumar, a clerk who had been reinstated despite convictions.
On Kulwinder Singh’s plea, the commissioner, Jalandhar division, reviewed his earlier order whereby he had rejected Kulwinder Singh’s appeal against dismissal from service. He was convicted in a corruption case by the special judge, Patiala, in
March 2004. Like Prem Lata, he was awarded two-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 was imposed on him.
But today both Kulwinder Singh and Prem Lata are back in jobs. Kulwinder Singh is a kanungo at Balerkhanpur (Kapurthala), while Prem Lata is working at tehsil complex, Mohali.
Information about the two recently surfaced when lawyer H.C. Arora sent to deputy commissioners a list of convicted employees to know what departmental action had been taken against them. He had procured the list under the Right to Information Act from the Punjab vigilance bureau.
In the January 22 reply to Arora, the office of the deputy commissioner, Kapurthala, which was sent a list of 13 convicted employees, wrote that Kulwinder Singh was in service and had been taken back in appeal. Subsequently, Arora sought a copy of the order whereby Kulwinder Singh had been reinstated. This order dated February 2 last has references to the cases of Prem Lata and Anil Kumar, both convicted for corruption, dismissed and subsequently reinstated in appeals. More such cases are likely to surface as and when deputy commissioners reply to Arora’s queries.
But the practice is totally against the spirit of Supreme Court’s 2001 judgment, where it says: “Proliferation of corrupt public servants could garner momentum to cripple the social order if such men are allowed to continue to manage public institutions…”
The Punjab government had itself in 1998 categorically directed authorities concerned to remove employees from service upon conviction for corruption. It had added that if such employees succeed in appeals, the matter could be reviewed.
