Calling for dedicated and consistent action to eradicate corruption, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has said this can be achieved only by strengthening the Vigilance Commission and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption.Justice B. Pugalendhi said the State Vigilance Commission was established by the State government in 1965 based on the recommendations of the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption. The Commission was headed by the Vigilance Commissioner, who should advise the government on major administrative challenges, prevention of corruption in public services in general and the manner in which individual cases of corruption should be dealt with.“However, there is no regular/ permanent Vigilance Commissioner in the State and a senior officer heading the major and sensitive department is holding the post of Vigilance Commissioner as an additional post. The government, which aims for corruption-free governance, in the opinion of the court, should have an independent Vigilance Commissioner, wholly concentrating on the Vigilance Commission’s functioning,” the court said.The judge said cases related to corruption had to be viewed seriously and dealt with carefully. Pendency of the cases before the Tribunals for Disciplinary Proceedings had to be addressed by the Vigilance Commissioner. The Tribunals should be headed by the Judicial Officers in the rank of District Judge, as provided under Rule 3(2) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Disciplinary Proceedings Tribunal) Rules, 1955, or by IAS officers. “A separate Vigilance Commissioner is the need of the hour to monitor the vigilance cases effectively,” he added.The judge was hearing petitions filed by delinquent officers facing disciplinary proceedings, which were pending before various Tribunals. Their common grievance was that there was a delay in concluding the proceedings before the Tribunals, which was in violation of the G.O. issued by the Human Resources Management Department in 2022. The court disposed of the batch of petitions with a direction to the Tribunals to conclude the proceedings. Published - July 02, 2026 08:31 pm IST