Madras High Court· 23 September 2026

Can a Secretary at the helm of affairs of a Society absolve his responsibility by attributing the entire misconduct to his subordinates?

V.VARADHARAJAN v. THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU

WP.26722/2024 · 2026:MHC:3973 · WP No. 26722 of 2024
Coram: Justice C.Kumarappan

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Answer

A Secretary at the helm of affairs of a Society cannot absolve his responsibility by attributing the entire misconduct to his subordinates.

No. A Secretary at the helm of affairs of a Society cannot absolve his responsibility by attributing the entire misconduct to his subordinates. Entrusting confidential work to a Night Watchman and a Peon itself showed a failure to discharge his administrative responsibilities; a shortage of staff should have been reported to the higher authorities with a request for more personnel.

Headnote

Disciplinary Authority — Charge memorandum — Secretary of Society — Misappropriation — Compulsory retirement — Judicial review — Scope of interference — Disciplinary proceedings — Secretary of Society — Misconduct through subordinates — Held: A Secretary at the helm of affairs of a Society cannot absolve his responsibility by attributing the entire misconduct to his subordinates; faced with a shortage of staff, he ought to have brought it to the notice of the higher authorities. (¶6, 9) Disciplinary proceedings — Misappropriation — Admitted shortage of funds — Held further: Where the delinquent admitted the shortage of funds and the transactions were carried out under his signatures, the finding of misappropriation cannot be faulted, even though he made good the loss. (¶7, 8) Judicial review — Findings of Disciplinary Authority — Limited scope — Held further: The scope of interference in judicial review is limited, and findings based on the materials on record that are not perverse cannot be interfered with. Writ Petition dismissed. (¶9, 10, 11)

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In the Court's own words

Paragraph 6The main contention put forth by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the alleged misconduct was committed by the co-delinquents, namely, the Night Watchman and the Peon. The first question that arises for consideration is whether the petitioner could have entrusted such confidential work to the Night Watchman and the Peon. As rightly contended by the learned Additional Government Pleader, the aforesaid conduct by itself clearly demonstrates the petitioner’s failure to properly discharge his administrative responsibilities. If there was a shortage of staff, the petitioner ought to have brought the same to the notice of the higher authorities and requested them to depute additional personnel. However, it is not the petitioner’s case that, despite making such a request, no additional person was deputed. Since the petitioner was at the helm of affairs and was responsible for the administration of the Society, he cannot simply absolve his responsibility by attributing the entire misconduct to his subordinates.

Paragraph 9It is also relevant to mention that the petitioner cannot absolve himself of responsibility merely by referring to the misconduct of his subordinates, particularly when the co-delinquent was also imposed with the punishment of compulsory retirement. Therefore, this Court is of the firm view that the findings rendered by the Disciplinary Authority, the Revisional Authority and the Reviewing Authority are well-founded. It is relevant to reiterate that, while exercising the power of judicial review, the scope of interference is limited. Unless the findings rendered by the Disciplinary Authority are perverse, rendered by an incompetent authority, or contrary to the materials available on record, this Court cannot interfere with such findings.

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Also decided in this judgment

Can a finding of misappropriation be faulted where the delinquent admitted the shortage of funds and the transactions were carried out under his signatures?Can disciplinary findings be interfered with in judicial review unless perverse, rendered by an incompetent authority, or contrary to the materials on record?

Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Madras High Court. Corrections