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Sekar Reddy’s ‘secret diary’ row: HC questions about CBI interrogation on OPS
Five pages of the diary reportedly had notes on alleged payments made to many AIADMK ministers and MLAs including O Panneerselvam.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
The Madras High Court on Tuesday questioned as to why no CBI interrogation was ordered on Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam in the case relating to the discovery of the ‘secret diary’ allegedly belonging to the Mining Baron Sekar Reddy. The Court raised the question while hearing a case filed by DMK.
Five pages of the diary reportedly had notes on alleged payments made to many AIADMK ministers and MLAs including O Panneerselvam.
The name of Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam who held the PWD portfolio for many years in the late J Jayalalithaa-led cabinet was mentioned several times in the leaked papers of the diary besides ministers Vijaya Baskar and Thangamani. Names of several other AIADMK functionaries, including former MLA VP Kalairajan, were also found on the list.
The ledger was seized along with Rs 131 crore cash, Rs 33.6 crore in new currency notes and 177 kg of gold by the Income-Tax department when it searched the premises connected to Reddy in 2016.
The matter pertains to a complaint lodged by DMK MP R S Bharathi with the DVAC in March.
Bharathi filed a petition in the court yesterday, seeking a direction to the DVAC to register a case and investigate into the complaint against the deputy chief minister.
In the petition, Bharathi alleged that the senior AIADMK leader had amassed wealth by abusing his power gained unlawfully and invested the same in companies and properties either in his name or that of his "benamis".
He further submitted that for this purpose, Panneerselvam had made false declarations before the Income Tax authorities and election officials.
Alleging that the DVAC had not acted on his complaint till date, the petitioner said the high court had already made it clear that when a complaint was given against a public servant, the vigilance department had to look into it directly and that no prior sanction was needed for the same.
(With inputs from PTI)
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