The Madras High Court on Thursday decided to commence on November 19 the final hearing on writ appeals filed against the quashing of a government order issued in September 2018 for a Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) inquiry into alleged irregularities in construction of a new Legislative Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex during the DMK regime.
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy fixed the date at the request of Advocate General Vijay Narayan and special senior counsel for State government AL. Somayaji who urged the court to take up the appeals, pending for last two years, for final hearing at an early date so that the cases could be disposed of.
Advocate R. Neelakandan, representing DMK president M.K. Stalin and the party’s general secretary Durai Murugan who were the Deputy Chief Minister and Public Works Department Minister respectively between 2008 and 2010 when the new Assembly complex was constructed, said he required time since senior counsel P. Wilson had to argue the case.
Immediately after the AIADMK came to power in 2011, the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa utilised the newly constructed building for establishment of a government super specialty hospital and also constituted a commission headed by former High Court judge R. Regupathi to probe into the irregularities in the construction of the Assembly complex.
The inquiry was conducted against former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Mr. Stalin and Durai Murugan. However, in August 2018, Justice S.M. Subramaniam directed the State government to suspend the Commission of Inquiry and instead institute criminal prosecution against the suspects if it was satisfied of a prima facie case having been made out.
Accordingly, the Government decided not to revive the Commission of Inquiry and issued a G.O. on September 24, 2018 ordering a DVAC inquiry into the alleged irregularities. In December 2018, Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana quashed the G.O. and hence the present appeals. Mr. Stalin and Mr. Durai Murugan too had filed separate appeals challenging Justice Subramaniam’s order.
