CHENNAI: The Union government has granted sanction to prosecute two IAS officers, KS Kandasamy and K Vijaya Karthikeyan, in the Rs 98.25-crore alleged tender irregularities case against senior AIADMK leader and former minister SP Velumani, the Madras High Court was informed on Thursday.

The Union government's orders against the two IAS officers were received on Thursday.

Not impressed with this, Justice N Anand Venkatesh said the case was a classic example of how criminal law works in the country, observing that the wheels of law enforcement move faster against the poor but hardly move against the influential.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in the award of contracts for various works in the Chennai and Coimbatore corporations during the previous AIADMK regime, when Velumani was the municipal administration minister. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered a case alleging irregularities to the tune of Rs 98.25 crore.

Subsequently, Arappor Iyakkam filed a contempt petition against the DVAC, alleging that it had failed to comply with an earlier direction of the High Court to file the charge sheet in the case.

Earlier, the court had directed the Union government to complete the process of granting sanction to prosecute two IAS officers within two months.

When the matter came up for hearing again before Justice Anand Venkatesh, the Joint Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) filed an affidavit before the court, stating that the Union government has granted sanction to prosecute Kandasamy and Vijaya Karthikeyan.

Following this, the judge ordered the deletion of the DoPT from the list of respondents, as it was no longer a necessary party to the contempt proceedings. He kept the contempt petition pending to monitor the further progress made by the DVAC.

The court adjourned the matter to December 4.