Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Court orders medical test of constable

MADURAI: The Madras High Court ordered Tuesday a medical examination to ascertain whether a constable of the prison department (since dismissed from service) was suffering from mental illness for nine years.

Disposing of a writ appeal filed by the Inspector-General of Prisons in the Madurai Bench, Chief Justice A.K. Ganguly and Justice Prabha Sridevan said the appellant could decide on reinstating the constable after the medical examination.

M. Lukman Hakeem, of Velipattinam in Ramanathapuram, was serving as a Grade II constable at the central prison here until he went on medical leave for a month on September 9, 1991.

The leave was extended twice by mail, and there was no communication thereafter.

On January 3, 1992, the Prison Superintendent served the constable with a notice, asking him to explain why he should not be removed from service after being declared a deserter. The constable’s mother, who replied to the notice, said her son was suffering from mental illness and undergoing treatment at the Erwadi dharga in Ramanathapuram district.

However, the Superintendent passed orders on March 6, 1992, removing the constable from service. Thereafter, the matter was put in cold storage.

All of a sudden, the constable appeared before the officials on November 3, 2000, and requested that he be reinstated on the basis of a medical fitness certificate. As his plea was rejected, he filed a writ petition.

Allowing the petition on November 1, 2007, a single judge held that there were no documents to show that the petitioner had deliberately abstained from duty and ordered his reinstatement.

In his writ appeal, the Inspector-General of Prisons said the constable went abroad for nine years and made false claims of mental imbalance to get back into government service.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

“Cut off diplomatic ties with Sri Lanka”
Tribunals should not award compensation as per “whims”
Court orders medical test of constable
Case booked
Congress cadres jubilant
Training programme
Exhibition of tiles and sanitaryware
1,000 litres of milk seized
Brain fever vaccination to begin next month
Revoke G.O.: CPI leader
Stolen cars seized in Madurai
“Do not belittle Kattabomman”
Water level

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu