Madras High Court Reserves Judgment On Former Minister SP Velumani's Petitions Seeking Quashing Of FIRs In Corruption Case

The Madras High Court on Tuesday reserved its decision on the pleas moved by former AIADMK Minister SP Velumani for quashing of the FIRs alleging irregularity in grant of contracts during his tenure.The bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice RMT Teeka Raman, that deals with cases relating to MPs and MLAs, reserved the judgment after hearing the counsel representing different parties including the former minister and prosecution.The former Municipal Administration minister is accused of indulging in corrupt practices in the award of corporation contracts. It is alleged that he had deliberately reduced the number of tenderers for public works and awarded contracts to his close aids, in violation of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act, 1998 and the rules as well as the Competition Act.Senior Advocate SV Raju appearing for Velumani had submitted that he was being targeted by the present government and that a preliminary enquiry had already given him a clean chit.However, Advocate General R Shunmughasundaram had denied the allegations of malafide and argued that the accused cannot rely on the preliminary inquiry report to state that he was innocent. The AG had also argued that the court cannot make a decision in the quashing petitions only on the basis of a preliminary report, adding same would set a bad precedent.Advocate Suresh appearing for Arappor Iyakkam, the NGO that had initially filed the petitions to initiate proceedings against the minister, made arguments regarding the technical irregularities in the award of tenders. It was submitted that all the companies that participated in the tender process were connected to the then minister and thus he cannot claim innocence. Further it was also brought to notice of the court that IP addresses and mobile numbers of the companies that participated in the tender process were the same.State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammad Jinnah also had denied allegations of malafide and submitted that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption had proceeded as per law and conducted proper enquiry.Case Title: Arappor Iyakkam v The Director and othersCase No: WP No. 34845 of 2018

Madras High Court Reserves Judgment On Former Minister SP Velumani's Petitions Seeking Quashing Of FIRs In Corruption Case

Upasana Sajeev

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