Only 5 cases disposed a year: Kerala HC directs audit of vigilance tribunals

Kochi: Raising serious concerns over the spending of public money amounting to crores of rupees on vigilance tribunals in the state, which have a disposal rate of only five cases a year, the Kerala high court stated that it is high time the govt considered whether these ineffective tribunals should be retained.Additionally, the bench of Justice K Babu directed the state govt to conduct a performance audit of the functioning of both vigilance tribunals in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode and reminded it that failure to use its powers to adapt to changing circumstances amounts to an abuse of power. HC made these critical remarks and issued these directions while disposing of a petition seeking the speedy disposal of a case pending before the Kozhikode vigilance tribunal since 2021.While examining the performance of the two vigilance tribunals, which were constituted under the Kerala Civil Service (Vigilance Tribunal) Rules, 1960, the court noted that each tribunal disposes of only five cases annually. Meanwhile, the special govt pleader submitted that the pendency of cases in the tribunals is very low. However, the court also observed that the amount spent on salaries alone for the functioning of a vigilance tribunal in one financial year exceeds an average of Rs 1 crore, with an additional expenditure of over Rs 1 crore towards various operational costs.Additionally, the bench referred to the failure of the Munnar tribunal, on which the govt had spent crores of rupees. The tribunal, constituted in 2011 and dissolved in 2018, disposed of only 42 cases during its nearly eight years of operation, while incurring a recurring expenditure of Rs 13.45 crore. Noting this, HC, in its administrative capacity, had initiated proceedings recommending the abolition of the Munnar tribunal, as it failed to achieve the objectives of the Munnar Special Tribunal Act, 2010, the court recalled.The court also directed its registry to forward the judgment to the chief secretary for further action.