Supreme Court Issues Notice On Tamil YouTuber Savukku Shankar's Plea For CBI Probe Into Alleged Misappropriation Of 'Annal Ambedkar' Funds

Tamil YouTuber Savukku Shankar today told the Supreme Court that his house was vandalised after he filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court seeking a CBI probe into the alleged fund misappropriation in the Annal Ambedkar Scheme.The Court today issued notice in his Special Leave Petition challenging the refusal of the Madras High Court to probe into alleged misappropriation in the Annal Ambedkar Scheme.Additionally, the court agreed to consider the SLP filed by Shankar's mother, A Kamala, who has challenged the decision of the single bench of the High Court refusing to transfer the criminal investigation of the house vandalisation incident to the CBI. The bench of CJI BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria was hearing the challenge to the Madras High Court order, which disposed of the plea filed by Shankar seeking a CBI probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds in connection with the implementation of the Scheme. Though the High Court refused to order a CBI probe, it directed the authorities to recheck the list of tender awardees and ensure that only those who fulfil the criteria have been awarded contracts under the scheme.During the hearing, Adv Balaji Srinivasan, the Counsel for Shankar informed the bench that Shankar's house was vandalised for filing the writ petition before the High Court. He stressed,"Because I raised these issues, my house was vandalised. I asked for a fair investigation by the CBI, that has been refused; therefore, I have challenged that as well." After issuing notice, the bench verbally remarked, "earlier you were hauled up for contempt." The Counsel responded that in that case, he had tendered an unconditional apology. To which, Justice Chandran reverted, "That's what everybody does, malign somebody, then unconditional apology." The bench here was referring to the Suo Motu contempt proceedings initiated by the Madras High Court against Shankar after he made remarks against the judiciary in a YouTube interview with Redpix Channel. The Madras High Court in October 2022 sentenced him to 6 months' imprisonment for criminal contempt of court.Why Has Shankar Alleged Misappropriation? The plea was filed by Shankar seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR based on his representation and to conduct an enquiry into the illegalities committed in sanctioning funds under the NAMASTE and AABCS scheme to fraudulent beneficiaries/persons who were ineligible and not sanitation workers. Shankar had claimed involvement of DICCI and Gen Green Logistics, both private entities, in the scam.Shankar had submitted that the AABCS scheme was announced by the State Government with the noble objective of uplifting Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs in the State. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, through the Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries & Commerce (ICDIC), was designated as the nodal agency to implement the scheme. However, Shankar claimed that the implementation was illegally and arbitrarily transferred to the DICCI, a private entity, through an MoU signed by the Government. Shankar pointed out that this unlawful outsourcing contravened the express Government Order and guidelines and would not only defeat the purpose of the scheme but would also lead to large-scale misappropriation of funds.Shankar submitted that following the MoU, the DICCI recommended beneficiaries for the scheme who were members of the Congress Party's SC/ST wing and their close associates, and all of whom were associated with the TNCC President Selvaperungathai. The beneficiaries recommended by Selvaperungathai also won a tender floated by the CMWSSB to hire vehicles equipped with jet-rodding machines for cleaning in Chennai. The allegation against Gen Logistics was that they had entered into leasing agreements with these beneficiaries and were, in turn, receiving funds directly from the government, thus siphoning off a bulk of public funds. House Vandalism & Challenge To Criminal Investigation Before the High Court single bench, Kamala had filed a criminal petition under S. 528 of BNSS to call for the records culminating in Crime No.5 of 2025 pending investigation on the file of the first respondent(State Police) and transfer the investigation to second respondent (CBI) with a direction to conduct De Novo investigation. It is alleged that 21 accused persons trespassed into the house of the petitioner and completely ransacked the entire house, abused the petitioner and also threatened with dire consequences. Kamala stressed that after arresting 5 persons, no statement was recorded from any of the witnesses. The High Court refused to transfer the investigation to the CBI, observing that "if the investigation is transferred from the file of the first respondent to the file of second respondent, the entire investigation already done by the first respondent would be affected. Therefore, this Court finds no grounds to transfer the investigation from the file of the first...

Supreme Court Issues Notice On Tamil YouTuber Savukku Shankar's Plea For CBI Probe Into Alleged Misappropriation Of 'Annal Ambedkar' Funds

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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