Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the state government to amend the service rules to restrict the employees from availing of long leave to go abroad for employment. “When a person avails of long leave to go abroad for employment, he/she will have to be unnecessarily paid pension till his death, for no service rendered by him to society. The government will have to consider the issue very seriously, and necessary amendments will have to be brought to the service rules,” the court held.
The court issued the order on a petition filed by Abdul Latheef, a teacher at Areekode College seeking to quash the vigilance case against him. The petitioner availed of long leave for 20 years and went abroad for employment. On the eve of retirement, he came back and re-joined duty. "This is, of course, a serious matter, which the government will have to look into. In spite of directions from the court, no government has so far taken steps to amend the rules to restrict the staff from availing of long leave to go abroad for employment," the court said.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had conducted a quick verification against the petition twice. The court pointed out the contradiction in the report as one report said that prosecution proceedings can be initiated against the accused, while the other stated that no action can be taken under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Vigilance director will also examine the matter, and report to court honestly whether there is any scope for a prosecution in the case under PC Act within three weeks.
