The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court cautioned a petitioner and advised him to exercise extreme restraint while disposing a petition filed by him alleging corruption in the procurement of materials for implementing various schemes by government officials. The Bench said that the petition was vague and unsubstantiated.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M. Duraiswamy observed when allegations of corruption or wrongdoings are levelled, the fullest particulars with material in support ought to be indicated for the court to take any cognisance thereof.
The court was hearing the petition filed by M. Abdulla of Tiruchi district. He sought a Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption probe. The court said that allegations were levelled against several government officials without any specific material.
During the course of the hearing, the court asked the advocate of the petitioner to indicate the best material in support of his allegation of corruption. To this, the advocate referred to the purchase of some materials at a cost of ₹4,400 per unit by the officials. According to the petitioner such materials were available on the e-commerce website, Amazon, at nearly half the price.
The judges observed that the price at which any product was available on Amazon may not be a proper yardstick to assess whether in the acquisition of a similar product by a government body there has been any wrongdoing.
It is nobody’s case that the government officials are permitted to obtain products from Amazon, where the quality, the quantity and the availability may not be ascertained beforehand. Though there is also an online portal for government entities to buy therefrom, which is supported by the Union government, not all State governments subscribe to such online purchase methods, the judges said.
The court also took cognisance of the report filed by the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption that stated that factual verifications disclosed that the allegations were vague, exaggerated and bald in nature.
