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M Kavitha’s suspension to be reviewed
Kavitha who was the additional commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) was arrested by the idol wing of the CID in the year 2018. It was alleged that she was involved in fraudulent and misappropriating activities regarding the funds of the organization she was connected with.
She was arrested on 31 July, 2018 for the alleged fraudulent activities. She was arrested and placed in judicial custody for a term of 14 days but was released on bail on 7th August 2018. Following this she was suspended from her job as well. She had allegedly misappropriated funds entrusted to her. The organization had received a certain amount of money along with gold, to be utilized towards the building of two Panchratna idols.
In the year 2015, M Muthiah, temple chief sthapadi had inspected the various idols in the Sri Ekambaranathar temple in Kancheepuram. On due deliberations, he found out that the idols of Lord Somaskandar and Ezhavarkuzhalamman were not of the agreed quality. Due to wear and tear they had lost their religious value and they had to be replaced. In response to which, M Kavitha gave the orders towards the collection of money and gold from the devotees in order to replace the said idols. According to police reports, the collection of the temple was signifcant as the devotees and the general public donated whole heartedly. Around 100 kilograms of gold was collected along with cash.
Since the devotees had already made their donations and they did not see any replacement in the temple idols they filed a complaint demanding an account of the gold and cash collected. A preliminary investigation was conducted in this behalf by a special wing of the police which was being led by the Inspector General of Police Mr. A G Ponn Manickavel himself.
Since such allegations were made against M Kavitha and she was remanded in the judicial custody. A job suspension order (against M Kavitha) was passed on 9th October, 2018. She was placed on suspension,however even after a period of 8 months she was barred from returning back to the position she earlier held - her suspension remained intact.
A petition was subsequently filed challenging such suspension order on the grounds of it being inexplicably lengthy and unneccassay. The court paid due attention to her arguments and her prayer. A reference was made to the Apex Court's decision in Ajay Choudhary vs. Union of India wherein it was held that : any suspension order must be temporary in nature, if the time period for such suspension is unreasonable - it becomes punitive in nature.
The Court has, on relevant considerations including lack of chargesheet being filed against M. Kavitha: ordered the State Government to review her suspension within a period of four weeks. This is to be done to ensure the transitory nature of the suspension, preventing it from becoming punitive in nature owing to its otherwise prolonged period.
