The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has registered a case against six persons, including former officials of Kannampalayam town panchayat for irregularities in the laying of water pipelines during 2015-16.
Former Assistant Engineer of the town panchayat M. Menaka (43), former Executive Officer K.R. Renuka (49), former Assistant Executive Engineer K. Mahendran (54), contractor K. Parthipan (56) of Kannampalayam, his wife P. Bhuvaneshwari (49) and former panchayat president-cum-DMK functionary Thalapathy Murugesan (56) were booked under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
As per the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the DVAC on November 17, Renuka, being the Executive Officer of the town panchayat, decided to carry out a pipeline extension work during the year 2015-16 on the pretext of attending to the grievance of the public.
The FIR said that the six persons hatched a criminal conspiracy to swindle the public fund allotted to carry out the work. The officials knew that Parthipan and Bhuvaneshwari were ineligible to carry out the work.
It said that Renuka and Menaka prepared an estimation for ₹94.5 lakh for the work without getting a specific note order for the ratification of administrative sanction from the town panchayat council. The duo split up the works into 27 for the purpose of bringing them within the administrative power of the panchayat president, Murugesan, as he had administrative power only for the works upto ₹ 4 lakh.
Mahendran accorded the technical sanction for the work, fully knowing about the absence of administrative sanction. Renuka obtained a ratification for administrative sanction through Murugesan without any previous note order, said the FIR.
Renuka called for the tenders in a vernacular newspaper with minimum circulation to avoid competition and with a motive to select the favoured party in the tender. Parthipan and wife submitted their tenders and the former was subsequently awarded the work.
While Parthipan laid substandard PVC pipes in contrary to the tender notification, Menaka measured the works and entered incorrect details in the official records. Mahendran also took measurements of pipelines and falsely certified that the work was carried out in order. Both Menaka and Mahendran purposely omitted to point out the low quality of PVC pipes in their reports, the FIR said.
The super check conducted by Srinivasan, Executive Engineer, TWAD Board, Coimbatore, found that pipes laid in the extension works were substandard. As per the FIR, Parthipan claimed ₹48,10,265 for the works by way of laying substandard PVC pipes.
