Chennai

The Madras High Court has instructed the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department to conduct a thorough investigation into prison authorities who have used uniformed personnel for personal or residential tasks across the state. The court recommended that the probe be carried out with assistance from the CBCID or Intelligence Wing.

In its order, the court emphasized that once the personnel are identified, the Additional Chief Secretary must ensure their reassignment to prison duties as per established rules, within three weeks. This ruling came after a petition by Sujatha, who complained about the misuse of uniformed staff for non-official work.

The court reminded the authorities that as public servants, prison and police personnel are compensated by taxpayers and provided with necessary facilities to perform their duties. It stressed that any abuse of this position could lead to prosecution and disciplinary action. The bench pointed out that deploying uniformed staff for personal tasks resulted in neglect of official duties and undermined prison administration.

The court further criticized the ongoing practice despite previous orders to stop it, stating that such misuse of public servants for personal chores was unconstitutional and a disservice to the public. It called for strong action to prevent this misuse and ensure staff serve the public interest.