Income Tax raids underway at premises of ex-AIADMK Minister SP Velumani's close aide

Income Tax raids are underway at the premises of Chandrasekar, a close aide of former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) minister SP Velumani, on the outskirts of Coimbatore. The searches are currently taking place at six locations.

Chandrasekar is the publisher of the AIADMK mouthpiece Namadhu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma. He is said to be a close aide of SP Velumani. The raids were conducted in Coimbatore's Vadavalli area.

In March, the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) raided the residence of Velumani in Kuniyamuthur, Coimbatore. The searches were related to corruption allegations against the former minister based on the evidence taken during searches earlier.

The AIADMK leader has been accused of abusing his official post and selectively awarding tenders in the Greater Chennai and Coimbatore areas worth around Rs 811 crore between 2014 and 2018. The FIR against the former minister was registered on a complaint lodged by DMK MP RS Bharathi and anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam convenor V Jayaraman.

Madras HC refuses to stay FIRs against SP Velumani

On June 27, the Madras High Court refused to stay the operation of the First Information Reports (FIRs) against Velumanni. The HC directed DVAC and the petitioners - Arappor Iyakkam and DMK's RS Bharathi - to file their counter-affidavits with regard to the main petition of quashing the FIRs.

The main contention of Velumani was that after an order from the High Court, a preliminary inquiry was executed by Ponni, SP, DVAC, who had found that there was no involvement of the pleader in the award of the tenders by the two civic bodies and held that the allegations were baseless.

Overlooking the said report, the FIRs were lodged for offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), after the MK Stalin-led DMK government came to power.

The FIRs were a result of political vendetta and misuse of process of law by the Tamil Nadu government just to harass him and malign his clean image, he contended.