In a major reprieve to AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the Madras High Court on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, dismissed a petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam organising secretary R.S. Bharathi in 2018 seeking a Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) probe into an alleged State highway tender scam.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh held that the did not find any infirmity in the preliminary inquiry conducted by the DVAC in 2018 when a clean chit was given to the then Chief Minister and therefore there was no necessity for the DVAC to conduct yet another preliminary inquiry just because of a change of regime in the State.
The 2018 petition was actually disposed of by another single judge of the High Court on October 12, 2018 by ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged highway tender scam. The order was passed without reading the preliminary inquiry report submitted by the DVAC in a sealed cover.
