MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, and the Pudukkottai collector on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking an investigation into the non-completion of works undertaken by a private company under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Avudaiyarkovil taluk of Pudukkottai.
The litigant K Subramanian, former councillor of Thiyathur village panchayat, stated in his petition that the said company received work order to renovate a watershed in Nattani Purasakudi village, construct sluices and retaining walls for irrigation tanks in three villages — Puthambur, Thiyathur and Senganam —in 2018.
The company also received an advance Rs 7.22 lakh for the aforesaid works, he added. However, when he inquired through an RTI in September 2024, he came to know that the company had not commenced the work yet. Regarding the action taken by the authorities against the company, the RTI report revealed that so far, eight warning notices have been issued to the company to complete the works, the litigant added.
Criticising the authorities for failing to cancel the contract even after a lapse of six years, Subramanian said the authorities' inaction in ensuring proper utilisation of public funds amounts to a violation of public trust. He requested the court to direct the authorities to probe the matter and conduct an audit of all payments made by the authorities in other similar projects.
A bench of Justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy directed the government counsel to obtain details from the authorities concerned and adjourned the case for two weeks.