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MADURAI: An official from the audit wing of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR and CE) department has landed in the dock for acting in collusion with a subordinate and abusing a female colleague by referring to her caste.Setting aside an order passed by a sessions court judge, who acquitted the offical from the charges framed under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Women Harassment Act, a single judge at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Special Judge for trial of cases under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to frame fresh charges against the officer and dispose of the case as expeditiously as possible, without any adjournments.Nalini (name changed), superintendent at the audit wing of the HR and CE wing in Meenakshi Amman Temple, was allegedly abused by Balakrishnan, the regional audit officer (Kanchipuram region) and Sivanesan, deputy chief auditor (Chennai and Madurai). According to Nalini, during an audit at the Meenakshi Amman Temple in January 2009, Balakrishnan and Sivanesan allegedly passed offensive comments about her dress and lipstick. Knowing well that she belonged to the Scheduled Caste, Balakrishnan reportedly said that she belonged to “a group of people who eat human excreta”. Sivanesan, who was Balakrishnan’s superior officer, made no attempts to stop him, but instead backed the remarks and together they harassed her in office, Nalini alleged.In his order, Justice P R Shivakumar said, “Besides failing to curtail Balakrishnan, who was his subordinate from crossing the “Lakshman Rekha” and making such derogatory remarks, Sivanesan also acted in collusion.”Rejecting the contentions of Sivanesan’s counsel that there was no elaborate evidence on the allegations, the judge further said, “Detailed reference to various averments in the complaint and the statements shall not be necessary and it is sufficient to state that there are averments to show that both the accused acted in unison with a common intention of insulting the de-facto complainant.”
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