No reason for fresh inquiry; HC on DMK leader's plea against Palaniswami

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday dimissed DMK leader RS Bharathi's plea against former CM K Palaniswami, alleging irregularities in a highways tender running into several crores of rupees during the previous AIADMK regime.

The court declined to permit Bharathi, DMK Organising Secretary, to withdraw his petition seeking a direction to the Vigilance department to conduct a probe into the matter.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh dismissed the petition filed by Bharathi, while saying there was no reason for a fresh preliminary enquiry, as ordered by the state government after a change of regime in Tamil Nadu in 2021.

Originally, on a plea by Bharathi, the HC had ordered a CBI probe into the matter in 2018. But on a petition filed by the state government, the Supreme Court remitted the matter back to the HC to conduct a fresh hearing.

When the high court took the petition for hearing, it was submitted by the State government then that a fresh enquiry would be conducted in the matter.

Following this, Bharathi wanted to withdraw his petition. In his order, the judge said the important issue to be taken into consideration was as to what impelled the ordering of a preliminary inquiry afresh. The inquiry report was submitted on August 28, 2018.

The same was accepted by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) and that was the reason why the anti-graft agency filed an appeal before the SC challenging the earlier order passed by this court.

The communications that were placed before this court do not indicate as to why a preliminary inquiry has been ordered afresh (recently).

Either the DVAC should have stumbled upon some new facts/materials or the earlier preliminary inquiry report dated August 28, 2018 must be found to be bad. Without assigning any such reasons, the government straight away ordered for a preliminary inquiry afresh, the court said.

The only development that took place during the interregnum period was that there was a change in guard and the DMK won the assembly elections and formed government on May 7, 2021. (PTI)