ALL
INDIA POSTAL EMPLOYEES UNION GROUP ‘
C’,
Tamilnadu Circle, @ Chennai – 600002
M.SELVAKRISHNAN J. RAMAMURTHY A. VEERAMANI A.KESAVAN
President Advisor Circle Secretary Cir.Fin.Secretary
P3/ 23/ Erode Dated:27.2.2019
To
The
Chief Postmaster General,
Chennai
600002
Sir,
Sub:
Misusing of quasi-judicial powers and ordering recovery against the innocent
officials who are not directly responsible in the Huge Frauds taken place at
Sivagiri PO in Erode Postal Division.
It is
brought to our notice that at Sivagiri Sub Post office under Erode Head Post
office, there was a fraud committed to the tune of Rs.69, 00,000/- by Sri.N.P.Saravanan
who has been dismissed from Service without effecting recovery of the loss
sustained to the Department either from him or taken action to confiscate the
movable and immovable properties of him and his blood relations.
The fraud took place with the
connivance and collusion of divisional head and some of the officials who were
been scat free and the innocents who are not at all directly responsible are
being targeted. As per the assurance of Sri.N.Mylsamy, GDS Sivagiri, his second
wife Smt.Krishnaveni was transferred back to Sivagiri SO on 08.06.2016 which
undoubtedly revealed the nexus between Sri.N.Mylsamy and Sri.Gurunathan the
then SSPOs, Erode Division.It is undoubtedly vitiatessuspicion due to the irregular
transfers issued by the SSPOs which were on obvious considerations.If an
enquiry is ordered on the transfers issued by him many hidden skeleton rolled
in the cupboard will come out. It is pertinent to mention that the same SSPOs while
holding charge at Coimbatore division credited an amount under UCR towards
contributory negligence fixed with respect to one fraud case occurred in
Thadagam SO during his earlier tenure as SSPOs Coimbatore.
Even before this transfer on 08.06.2016,
Smt.Krishnaveni was repeatedly deputed/transferred to Sivagiri SO against the rules
by the then SSPOs under the instigation of her husband Sri.N.Mylsamy.It is
strongly felt that the successful fraudulent premature closures of MIS/TD/KVPs
and the irregular transfer of Smt.S.Krishnaveni to Sivagiri SO had comfortably facilitated
the occurrence of the above fraud. The Erode DivisionalJCA submitted a memorandum
to Smt. Sharada Sampath, then PMG Western Region on 10.04.2017 citing all the
irregularities committed by him which is the root cause for the fraud, but to
the unfortunate that the fate of the disposal of the memorandum is not known,
Even before commitment of above frauds at
Sivagiri SO , Sri.N.P.Saravanan committed frauds at Pasur SO also. Sri.S.Muthusamy who
was the Sub Divisional ASP for both the Pasur So and Sivagiri SOhas not carried
out the second inspection as ordered by the SSPOs and the wilful act of the
ASPOs has given vigour and strength to the fraudulent official further which is
the main root cause of the fraud.Even before the outcome of cent percent
verification he was transferred to Sivagiri SO as PA and subsequently ordered
to work as SPM , Sivagiri SO which paved him way for committing fraud to a huge
extent In order to settle the fraud amount of Pasur SO earliercommitted by him.If the cent percent verification would have carried
out in time, the above frauds could have been totally averted.
A CBI enquiry was ordered for investigating the fraud case at Sivagiri
SO. On enquiry, the CBI held, that the above Sri.N.P.Saravanan , Sri.N.Mylsamy
, Sri.R.Subramaniam and Sri.N.Uma maheswaran are the culprits.Also the
above four officials have given a
confession in writing on a Rs.20/- bond paper that they have actually defrauded
the amount and were willing to repay the defrauded amount.The divisional unions
have already submitted a memorandum to the Postmaster General, Western Region,
Coimbatore and to the SSPOs Erode division to recover the defrauded amount from
the prime offenders and co-offenders by confiscating their assets.The PMG,Western
Region assured earlier that the culprits only would be punished and the
innocent officials would not be taken to task under the guise of contributory
negligence. It is most apt to mention
that the penal interest has been accumulated to a large amount due to the
non-settlement of claims of investors then and there by the administration for
which the divisional administration is solely responsible.
It is learnt that contrary to the above
assurance, a sum of about Rs.5,00,000 /- [Rupees Five Lakhs ] was recovered
from the following officials on contributory negligence factor without evincing
any efforts to recover the amount from the main offender.
1. Sri.M.P.Thangavelu,
PA[Retd] SBCO
2. Smt.K.Selvamani, PA [Retd]
3. Sri.P.Parameswaran Mail Overseer [Retd]
4. Sri.U.P.Sivakumar,
then Mail overseer
5. Sri.T.V.Ragavan
, PA
6. Smt.P.Sajna,
PA,
7. Smt.B.Kanchanamala
, PA [Retd]
8. Smt.
Dhanalakshmi , PA and
9. Sri.P.Kumar,
APM.
10. Smt.Sasikala, PA, SBCO.
11.
Moreover the divisional administration issued
charge sheets to six officials now on flimsy reasons as if they have not
verified the signature in the daily account and non-issue of reminders to the
ASPOs,and in particular without citing the rules of deviation with the sole
intention to recover the defrauded amount from the innocent officials which are as follows.
(i)
Charges were framed without linking as to how the lapse had contributed
to the occurrence of the fraud.
(ii)
Failure to check the genuineness of the
Signature of the joint Custodian in the SO daily Account by the Sub Account PA
in Erode Head Post office.
(iii)
Non Arrangement to withdraw year type/Cancellation date stamp of
Sivagiri SO for the previous year by the stock branch OA of Divisional office
(iv)
Supply of Passbook / KVPs in excess of the authorised
limit during drive period though it was ordered by the Divisional office.
(v)
Notwatching the delayed /non-receipt of SMRs
from SOs [through HO] by the L Branch OA of Divisional office.
(vi)
Those officials who went deputation to
sivagiri SO have been Charged to why didn’t they claim to work in SB Branch /
SPM / Joint Custodian when the
deputationist worked in the branch under the specific orders of the SPM,
Sivagiri SO.
(vii)
SB OA of Divisional office was questioned as
to why she has not monitored the finacle user Ids even though the SO was not even
migrated to Finacle on that date.
(viii)
One PA candidate [not at all worked in HO] was
questioned to why she had not checked the genuineness of the signature of joint
custodian in the SO Daily Account as a Sub account PA at Erode HO.
(ix)
As per Dte. Order, the power of role assigning
for SUPERUSER is vested with the SPM itself. But the SA of the Sivagiri SO was
questioned as to why he has not allotted the same with a view to fix Contributory negligence.[Even though no fraud
was committed by using SUPERUSER & DESUPER login in Sanchay Post-Data
Entry]
Thus, the
divisional administration is now misusing the quasi-judicial powers in framing
charge sheets with the flimsy and fabricated reasons just to protect the
officers who were held responsible for the loss sustained to the department and
also the officers who failed to initiate action to confiscate the properties
from the mail culprits. The major lapses on the part of the officers have not been
taken note of and their inactionand procrastination were simply brushed aside
and some of the examples are furnished hereunder.
i.
On 30.08.2013 then SSPOs G.Gurunathan and then
ASPOs [Hq] G.Balaji paid a surprise visit to Pasur SO and found out the below
irregularities.
§ 16 nos of NSCs of Rs.100/- denomination which were
already shown as issued in the name of N.P.Saravanan then SPM, Pasur So himself
were found blank and no NSC applications
were also not available.This serious irregularity was not probed at all
with seriousness it deserves. Had this
lapse being thoroughly inquired into, his ulterior motive could have been
nipped in the bud itself and further certificates frauds to the tune of
Rs.17,00,000/- [rupees Seventeen lakhs ] thereafter at Sivagiri SO by the same
Sri.N.P.Saravanan could have been averted.
§ The then
ASPOs [Erode South]Sri.Muthusamy have not submitted the Cent Percent Verification
report for Pasur SO till date.
§ About 129 passbooks were debited in Passbook
stock were not issued and kept blank. This was also not inquired
thoroughly. This grave lapse on the part
of the Divisional administration had emboldened Sri.N.P.Saravanan to commit TD
frauds to the tune of Rs.9,00,000 [Rupees Nine Lakhs] in Pasur SO and
thereafter Rs.38,00,000 [Rupees Thirty Eight lakhs] at Sivagiri SO.
§ The then SSPOs G.Gurunathan and ASPOs [hqtrs]
G.Balaji have not verified all the TD PBs standing opened at the single
handed SO [ie.Pasur SO] during their visit
which they would have been done at that time itself as envisaged in
Rule no.149 in Postal Savings Bank
Manual Vol – I. If they would have done
cen percent verification wrt TD accounts at Pasur SO, the further fraud at
Pasur SO and Sivagiri SO would have been averted.
§ There was
a Discrepancy in the payment of monthly
interest in one MIS account under no.6225542 available in the PB and
Sanchay Post software.This serious irregularitieswere not dealt thoroughly by
the then SSPOs Sri.G.Gurunathan and ASPOs Sri.G.Balaji. Thisled to the further MIS /TD PMC
frauds to the tune of Rs.12,00,000 [Rupees twelve lakhs] thereafter in
Sivagiri SO by Sri.N.P.Saravanan.
§ The ASPOs
so far visited Pasur SO and Sivagiri SO failed to carry out the inspection
properly and thereby to detect the fraudulent activities. It is also learnt
most of them marked that the final remarks of the inspection / visitreport
generally as SATISFACTORY which is contradictory to these frauds in Pasur SO
and Sivagiri SO.
From the above the real subsidiary offenders
are the officers who held charge at the time of fraud and they are being scat
free and there is no action to recover the amount from them. Whereas the
innocent officials have been charge sheeted to make them as scape goats on
flimsy lapses on the part of OAs divisional office, PAs, Erode HO have been
cited for contemplating action under contributory negligence.There is no rationale behind the ordering
the recovery of huge amount from the innocent officials under the guise of
contributory negligence.
It is crystal clear
vide DG P&T No.
6-8/59-Disc dt. 09.07.1959 that there should not be any attempt to somehow or other
effect recovery from officials who are guilty of only minor
omissions.Extenuating circumstances shall be given due weight.Pecuniary
responsibility need not be fixed for mere routine and petty lapses. For
effecting recovery, negligence should be such as has been the direct cause for
the loss as per D&T No. 15-9/74-INV dt. 10.02.1975.
In accordance with the DOPT OM No.
11013/10/93-estt (A) dated 06.10.1993,if
a Government servant is found to misuse his official position or to abet and
connive at improper and illegal acts, he would render himself liable for
disciplinary action for violation of Rule 3 of the CCS (conduct) Rule 1964. In
this episode the divisional heads and the sub divisional heads are solely
responsible and solely misusing their position to protect the culprits and
prosecute the innocents. In this case the divisional head and the sub
divisional heads are misusing the official position and also the present
initiation of charges against the innocent officials is nothing but misusing
the quasi-judicialpower.
The Supreme Court of India held in the case of Duli
Chand vs UOI under 680 of 2006 that in the departmental enquiry, when an
officer who exercised quasi-judicial powers acting negligently or recklessly
could be proceeded against by way of disciplinary action.
It is
therefore requested to ensure action on the following
(1)
To drop the charges framed against the
innocent officials on flimsy and fabricated reasons under the contributory
factor
(2)
To arrange
sale of wealth amassed by the culprits and to credit the proceeds to the
department thereby reducing the lost to the Government.
(3)
To take
into account of theserious lapses on the part of the administration and to
make thorough inquiry over the lapses at Pasur SO which has contributed to the
occurrence of fraud at Pasur SO and continuation of fraud at Sivagiri SO. They
should be held responsible and declare co offender and recover the amount from
them.
(4)
To exclude
the amount of fraud committed by non-credit in TD accounts and the issue of KVPs through Xerox copies as nowhere the officials were
involved/related to this fraud and no onus of responsibilities lie with the
official and the cases must be dropped.
In the event of no action, the circle union
will launch circle wide agitation. It is therefore requested to kindly bestow
your intervention and cause orders to drop the charge sheets against the
innocent officials and cause appropriate action against the officers who are
held responsible and directly contributed to the fraud. It is further requested
to control the wrong exercise of the quasi judicial power in this case by the
SSPO, Erode division.
A Line in reply about the action taken is
highly solicited.
Yours
faithfully,
Sd/-
A.Veeramani,
Circle
Secretary
