CHENNAI: Madras High Court has ordered a CBI probe into allegations of corruption in award of road contracts by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami. Justice AD Jagadish Chandira ordered the probe after studying the report filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption following a petition by DMK against the chief minister. The court said it was not satisfied with the report and the action taken by the DVAC on the complaint lodged by DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi. The judge then directed the vigilance agency to hand over all relevant documents to the CBI within a week.
He said the central agency has to conclude the preliminary investigation within three months, adding if a prima facie case is made out, it could proceed further. The DMK has alleged irregularities and corruption in award of road contracts, accusing EPS of abusing his power and allotting projects worth £350 million to his relatives and “benamis”. The petitioner originally wanted the court to direct the DVAC to conduct a preliminary inquiry and register an FIR on its complaint submitted in June. He later, moved an additional plea seeking transfer of the probe to an independent investigating team, saying the DVAC was technically under the chief minister.
The court had directed the DVAC to file a report on the day-to-day preliminary investigation conducted by it against Palaniswami on the complaint. During the October 9 hearing, counsel for the petitioner said the party had lost confidence in the DVAC as the agency had been “supporting” the chief minister all along.
