CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a criminal case against Minister KN Nehru over allegations by the Enforcement Directorate of transfer-posting bribery and irregularities in tender allocations in the Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department.
The ED had earlier sent a letter seeking registration of a case, alleging that bribes amounting to Rs 634 crore were collected in connection with 2,538 appointments, including posts such as Assistant Engineer, Junior Engineer, and Sanitary Inspector, in the MAWS Department.
Based on this, a petition was filed before the Madras High Court by AIADMK MP IS Inbadurai and K Athinarayanan, President of the Maruthu Senai Society, Madurai, seeking directions to the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) to register a case.
When the two petitions came up for hearing before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, Senior Counsel V Raghavachari, appearing for Inbadurai, argued that based on the evidence sent by the Enforcement Directorate in its letter, directions should be issued to register FIRs in corruption cases and that there was no necessity for a preliminary enquiry.
Enforcement Directorate counsel Ramesh submitted that FIRs should be registered on the basis of the materials provided by the agency.
Appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, Advocate General PS Raman submitted that the ED’s letter had already been forwarded to the State and that permission had been granted for investigation by the DVAC.
After hearing all sides, the Bench pronounced its judgment, observing that the materials furnished by the Enforcement Directorate prima facie disclosed cognizable offences. Accordingly, the Court directed the DVAC to register a case on the basis of the materials supplied.
The Court further held that, in view of the sufficient materials placed on record by the Enforcement Directorate, a preliminary inquiry was not warranted, and directed that a case be registered forthwith and investigated in accordance with law. The writ petition filed by K Athinarayanan was dismissed.