No prima facie case against EPS in 11 medical colleges construction complaint: TN govt to Madras High Court

CHENNAI: No prima facie case was found against former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the complaint alleging irregularities in the construction of 11 medical colleges, the Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court.

When Palaniswami was the chief minister heading the AIADMK regime, the government constructed new medical colleges in Tiruvallur, Ariyalur, Kallakurichi, Namakkal, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Nagapattinam, Virudhunagar, Tirupur, Krishnagiri, and the Nilgiris.

The petitioner, N Rajasekaran, a farmer from Nannilam in Tiruvarur, filed a case in the High Court alleging that these colleges, which were built when Palaniswami was also holding the Public Works Department portfolio, were not constructed in accordance with the National Medical Commission's norms. He also alleged several irregularities.

As the central government had contributed 60 per cent of the funds for establishing these 11 medical colleges, the issue must be probed by the CBI. However, the State government had issued a Government Order withdrawing the consent granted to the CBI and other central investigative agencies to conduct investigations in the State.

Hence, the court should quash the GO and order a CBI investigation into the matter based on his complaint, the petitioner said.

When the case came up for hearing, Advocate General PS Raman informed the division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had inquired into the complaint, but later closed the matter, as no prima facie case was made out.

The judges directed the petitioner to explain, after referring to judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Court, whether the closure of a complaint on the ground that no prima facie material was found could be subjected to judicial review. The bench then adjourned the hearing for four weeks.