DMK organising secretary R.S. Bharathi has approached the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a case against Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on the basis of a complaint lodged by him on June 13. The petition has been listed for admission before Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira on Friday.
According to the complaint, the Chief Minister holds the portfolio of highways department and he was a public servant as defined under Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.
He had allegedly indulged in several irregularities while granting contracts for converting a 70.20 km stretch of the Oddanchatram-Dharapuram-Avinashipalayam road into a four-lane facility and several similar cases. The original estimated project cost was ₹713.34 crore, but it was subsequently escalated to ₹1,515 crore, including a cash grant of ₹315 crore.
Contending that the cost of the project would not exceed ₹200 crore if it was calculated on the basis of the market norm of ₹2.2 crore (including contractor’s profit) for widening every kilometer, Mr. Bharathi accused the Chief Minister of unnecessarily sanctioning ₹1,515 crore and awarding the contract to a firm owned by his son Mithun’s brother-in-law.
Issue with sub-contracts
Similarly, the original estimated cost of widening the Tirunelveli-Sengottai-Kollam section running for about 45.64 km was escalated from ₹407.60 crore to ₹900 crore (including eight years bi-annual payment of ₹45 crore each and a cash grant of ₹180 crore) and the contract was awarded to Mithun’s father-in-law P. Subramaniam, the petitioner alleged.
Mr. Bharathi accused the Chief Minister of having indulged in similar irregularities in widening the Madurai Ring Road, the Valandalur-Walajabad highway and a few other highways in Ramanathapuram, Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri and Virudhunagar districts. He claimed that the sub-contracts for all these had been awarded to the Chief Minister’s relatives.
“Thus, the criminal misconduct under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is prima facie made out against the Chief Minister. Further, he has amassed wealth by using his office as Highways Minister and he has committed other offences as well, which needs further probe in the interest of justice,” the complainant said.
