Chennai: The Supreme Court will hear the petition filed by the Taminadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) tomorrow challenging the order by the Madras High Court, which directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on the allegations of corruption in awarding road contracts.
The DVAC had informed the apex court that there was no cognisable offence against the Chief Minister and that they could not find any irregularities in the highway contracts. A CBI investigation was not sought by the petitioner, it said and added that the High Court had not perused the sealed reports it had asked the anti-graft agency to submit. The DVAC has thus said that the Madras HC order comes without analysing the evidence presented before it.
In June this year, the DMK had written to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, alleging that there was corruption in the allocation of contracts of five highways projects to various firms owned by relatives of Palaniswami. The Highways and Minor Ports portfolio is held by him.
On 12 October, Justice Jagdish of the Madras High Court, dismissing the report submitted by the DVAC, ordered the CBI investigation to be headed by an officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police. He stated that the probe was being transferred to the CBI in the interest of transparency.
The court called for a preliminary inquiry into the matter to be conducted within a period of three months. If a case is made out of the inquiry, the investigating team has been ordered to file for further proceedings, he had said.
Following the High Court order, DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi said that they have evidence to back their claims. “As far as the Chief Minister is concerned, we filed complaints with evidence in connection with only four cases and it led to the High Court ordering a CBI probe,” he said.
Denying any irregularities, the DVAC chose to file a petition with the supreme Court last week.