The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to file a report on the number of surprise inspections/raids it had conducted in the past five years.

Justice B. Pugalendhi sought details of the quantum of amount recovered during such inspections, the number of prosecutions initiated pursuant to the inspections and their status and, if any disciplinary proceedings were recommended instead of prosecutions, the details of the same and their status.

The court posted the matter to October 1 for hearing. It said it expected the views of the government on issuance of uniform guidelines or a G.O. prescribing the maximum amount a government employee could possess while on duty.

Earlier, while hearing a batch of petitions, the court said it appeared that there was no common guideline or G.O. covering all government employees in the State. Therefore, the issue required consideration at the government level.

Considering the larger issue involved, the court said it expects the views of the government, regarding the guidelines available in the respective departments, if any, and the feasibility of issuing uniform guidelines or a G.O. prescribing the limit of cash that may be possessed by a government employee while on duty.

“In the present day, when almost every payment can be made through digital modes, the necessity of carrying substantial amounts of cash to office requires to be addressed by the government by fixing an appropriate threshold limit. If such a condition is prescribed, it may, to some extent, curb corruption in government offices,” the court said.

At the same time, the existence of a prescribed limit would also ensure that government employees are not unnecessarily harassed. The government has the objective of eradicating corruption, and a guideline framed in this regard may strengthen its objective of achieving corruption-free governance, the court said.