Summary:
Chennai, Oct 27 (PTI) There were no irregularities in the allotment of tenders for the Corporations of Greater Chennai and Coimbatore, the senior counsel representing former Municipal Administration minister S P Velumani (AIADMK), informed a division bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday.
When Velumani"s petitions challenging the two FIRs registered against him on the basis of two complaints from Arappor Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation and DMK former MP R S Bharathi came up today, senior counsel S V Raju told the bench of Justices P N Prakash and RMT Teekaa Raman that the minister never participated in any of the tender proceedings.
He was not even a member of the tender processing group.
The tenders were floated openly as per the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tender Act without any hidden agenda.
The allegations and the registration of the cases were politically motivated without any basis, he contended.
When a higher police official attached to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had closed the cases after a preliminary investigation, as per the directions of the High Court, and the then government accepted the proposal and closed the matter in January 2020, reopening the same after the DMK coming to power, is a clear case of political vendetta, the senior counsel contended.
The cases had been registered on the basis of the report of the CAG, despite a clean chit given by the DVAC officer and thereby the court was misguided.
The court alone can take a decision on the issue and not the government, the counsel further argued.
The matter is posted for further hearing for Friday, when the counsel for the government and other parties will argue.
PTI CORR SA SA
.