The Madras High Court on Thursday restrained Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) from filing a final report in a criminal case booked against former Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for alleged irregularities in award of tenders by Greater Chennai and Coimbatore corporations during his tenure.
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala passed the interim orders since the Supreme Court had recently ordered a fresh hearing of cases filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader R.S. Bharathi and non governmental organisation Arappor Iyakkam in the High Court in 2018, when he was the Minister, insisting upon an inquiry against him.
The Bench, however, refused to restrain the DVAC from taking coercive action against the former Minister and permitted the agency to proceed with the investigation. The FIR was registered after the DMK came to power, in May 2021, on the basis of Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report indicating loss to the public exchequer because of the award of tenders during the erstwhile All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime.
Since the FIR was registered during the pendency of the two cases, the High Court closed those cases. However, the former Minister approached the Supreme Court and obtained an order for a fresh hearing since the High Court had ordered a preliminary inquiry in 2019 and that inquiry found that there were no materials to prosecute him. The inquiry report was also accepted by the then government.
