Madras HC orders CBI probe against Tamil Nadu CM EPS in this case

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered a CBI probe into the alleged corruption indulged in by Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy in the award of highway contracts..Justice AD Jagadish Chandira directed the same on a petition filed by RS Bharathi, the organising secretary of opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)..In his petition, Bharathi had pointed out that various contracts for highway projects were awarded to a firm owned by those related to the Chief Minister including the brother-in-law and father-in-law of the Chief Minister’s son apart from awards to a benami firm..Five such contracts have been specifically highlighted. The petition alleges that the value of these contracts were inflated in an apparent attempt to eliminate other eligible contractors from bidding for the same..Among other portfolios, Chief Minister Palaniswamy holds the portfolio for the Highways Department. Earlier, he had handled the Highways portfolio between 2011-2016 during the tenure of late Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa..The petitioner approached the High Court in August this year, after his complaint to the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Department (DVAC) made last June failed to yield any satisfactory response..In light of the above allegations of nepotism and conflicting of interest, the petitioner argued that the Chief Minister was guilty of criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988..Initially, the petitioner had prayed for the Court to direct the registration of a case against Chief Minister Palaniswamy. However, he thereafter modified his prayer, calling for the court to direct an impartial probe into the matter..While hearing the petition, Justice Chandira had directed the DVAC to keep the Court abreast of the investigation being carried out into the above allegations..Eventually, the DVAC also gave the Chief Minister a clean chit in the case, submitting that it could not make out a cognisable offence having been committed by the Chief Minster..After reserving orders on Tuesday, the Court yesterday emphasised that a fair and transparent investigation was required in the matter, in which regard the DVAC enquiry was not found to be satisfactory. Justice Chandira remarked,.“ It does not need the wisdom of Solomon to infer that right from the receipt of the complaint and the registration of the preliminary enquiry, the conduct of the respondent had been aimed with a sole objective of closing the case by filing a negative report as no case made out. .The manner in which the inquiry had been conducted even without calling the complainant speaks for itself that the investigation had not been done in a fair and proper manner.“.The need for an independent inquiry assumed more significance in light of the fact that the DVAC lay under the administrative control of Chief Minister Palaniswamy. As observed in yesterday’s order,.“Considering the nature and seriousness of the allegations made, this Court at the outset is concerned with the manner and the way in which the inquiry has been initiated and done….… the contracts have been awarded by the Department under the control of the Hon’ble Chief Minister and the allegations of Conflict of Interest, nepotism and crony capitalism are made by the complainant/informant against the Hon’ble Chief Minister and firms related to the Hon’ble Chief Minister and the enquiry is being done by the agency which is under the administrative control of the Hon’ble Chief Minister and the closure report even without enquiring the complainant/informant has been handed over to the Vigilance Commissioner who has been appointed by the Hon’ble Chief Minister. .What else could be stated about this enquiry other than terming it as ‘Perfunctory!’“.Therefore, it has directed the DVAC to hand over all documents connected with the case to the CBI within a week to enable its independent probe. The CBI has been directed to file a preliminary probe report preferably within three months and proceed with the case if a cognisable offence is made out..Before parting with the case, the Court also made it clear that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the allegations leveled against the Chief Minister..“This Court once again makes it clear that this order does not express any opinion in relation to the allegations made in the complaint of the petitioner. This order is passed only in the interest of justice for ensuring fair, reasonable and transparent investigation.“.Read the Order:.Read the Petition: