Tamil Nadu: Corruption charges against former minister SP Velumani to be probed

The MK Stalin-led government has told the Madras High Court that it will start a thorough inquiry into corruption charges against AIADMK former minister SP Velumani if required. The state government has presented the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report before the first bench of chief justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy and pointed out that the former minister during his tenure used to give contracts to his close ones. The report also highlighted that there were many irregularities in the contract book of the Chennai Municipal Corporation.  A Chennai-based non-governmental organization named Arappor Iyakkam had also filed a PIL against Velumani and Chennai Corporation on Monday.

The Advocate General (AG) R Shunmugasundaram pointed out that the CAG report presented by the state government matched with the findings of Arappor Iyakkam, which highlighted the corruption involved between the Chennai civic body officials and former local administration minister SP Velumani. The court said that there would be a strict investigation into the matter and an FIR would be filed by the state government if it is required.

AIAMDK ex-minister, SP Velumani charged with corruption

Arappor Iyakkam allegedly claimed that there were huge irregularities in the contract records and the Chennai civic body, along with the Velumaini, has eaten several crores of rupees. The Chennai-based NGO has also urged the court to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the charges against former minister Velumani.

Earlier, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had given a clean cheat to the former AIADMK leader. Meanwhile, Advocate-General R Shanmugasundaram informed the court that the DVAC  closed the case against Velumani without carrying out an in-depth investigation. The Advocate General informed the court that DVAC did not interrogate certain officials.

The PIL filed by Arappor Iyakkam briefed the court on how the former minister carried out his corruption play. In the PIL, the NGO explained how the Municipal Corporation officials used to charge a higher price for items like mixed concrete and bitumen and charged lower prices for a list of items that were not needed for the project.

IMAGE: VELUMANI/FACEBOOK/REPRESENTATIVEIMAGE

(With agency inputs)