'Govt Attempted To Shield Politicians': Madras High Court While Ordering CBI Probe Into Alleged Transformer Tender Scam Involving Senthil Balaji

The Madras High Court on Wednesday remarked that the delays by State in granting sanction for prosecution in the alleged ₹397 crore transformer tender scam involving former State Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji, reflected an attempt by the government and relevant authorities to "suppress the truth".While ordering CBI probe into the alleged scam, the bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan remarked,"These actions create a reasonable suspicion of a cover-up designed to shield high-ranking officials and political figures, thereby undermining the integrity of a free, independent, and fair investigation."The development comes in a plea filed by Arappor Iyakkam NGO and members belonging to other political parties seeking the State to register an FIR against the persons involved in the case. The parties had informed the Court that though they had sent representations to the State, no action had been taken, prompting them to approach the court. The High Court noted that in the case, there was a delay in granting sanctions and even when the sanction was granted, it was only against Kasi, Financial Controller at TANGEDCO, and not against others, including the concerned Minister at that time, V Senthil Balaji. This conduct, as per the court, suggested an attempt by the government and relevant authorities to suppress the truth and created a suspicion of a cover-up to shield high-ranking officials and political figures, which undermined the integrity of a free and fair trial. “The excessive and unjustified delay in granting permission, coupled with the decision to downgrade the investigation from a detailed enquiry [without registration of an FIR] to a preliminary enquiry and limit its scope solely to Kasi, strongly suggests an attempt by the government and relevant authorities to suppress the truth and these actions create a reasonable suspicion of a cover-up designed to shield high-ranking officials and political figures, thereby undermining the integrity of a free, independent, and fair investigation,” the court said. The court further noted that though in cases involving corruption the investigating agency was expected to conduct a preliminary enquiry before registration of FIR, in the present case, the DVAC had conducted a detailed enquiry and conducted a mini-trial. “In a 73-Page preliminary enquiry report, the DVAC holds that there is insufficient oral and documentary evidence to substantiate the allegations against Kasi and further action is dropped. Under the guise of preliminary enquiry, the DVAC ex facie appears to have conducted a detailed enquiry. In any event, the scope of a preliminary enquiry is inherently narrow and must not be permitted to escalate into a "mini-trial" prior to the formal registration of an offence,” the court observed. The court further noted that though the DVAC had sought prior approval to conduct enquiry against the persons involved in the case on January 22, 2024, the Government, on September 26,2025 accorded sanction to conduct preliminary enquiry against only one public servant – Kasi. The court highlighted that as per Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the timeline for providing prior approval was only three months, which could be maximum extended by one month. The court noted that in the present case, the delay of 20 month for granting approval was unexplained by the authorities and was a serious procedural lapse that could not be overlooked. The court thus concluded that the procedural integrity of the investigation was compromised and the matter was not handled properly. The court thus noted that the petitioners were justified in approaching the court. “The nearly 20-month delay in granting approval, left entirely unexplained by the authorities, constitutes a significant procedural lapse that cannot be overlooked or treated as inconsequential. Such a prolonged period of inaction without justification raises serious concerns regarding the legitimacy of the process and must be given substantial weight in evaluating the case. Further, the lack of any justification for failing to initiate action against the other individuals named in the complaint strongly suggests that the matter was handled improperly. This unexplained omission makes it clear that the procedural integrity of the investigation was compromised, indicating that the complaint was not dealt with in a transparent or lawful manner,” the court noted. Another aspect that was highlighted by the court was that though the NGO Arappor Iyakkam had filed a complaint with the DVAC in 2023, no action had been taken on it and the same was kept pending. However, soon after the petitioners approached the court against the failure to take action on the complaint, all of a sudden, the preliminary enquiry was concluded rendering a finding that there was no material to substantiate the allegations. The court...

'Govt Attempted To Shield Politicians': Madras High Court While Ordering CBI Probe Into Alleged Transformer Tender Scam Involving Senthil Balaji

Upasana Sajeev

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'Govt Attempted To Shield Politicians': Madras High Court While Ordering CBI Probe Into Alleged Transformer Tender Scam Involving Senthil Balaji

Upasana Sajeev

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