MADURAI: Five zonal chairpersons and two chairpersons of standing committees of Madurai corporation have resigned in the wake of tax-fraud complaints. Mayor Indirani Ponvasanth accepted the resignations on Wednesday.
Ministers K N Nehru, P Moorthy and Palanivel Thiaga Rajan had conducted an inquiry with the zonal chairpersons on Monday. Following the inquiry, CM MK Stalin directed all five zonal chairpersons to resign.
The zonal chairpersons — Vasuki Sasikumar (Madurai East), Saravana Bhuvaneshwari (Madurai North), Pandi Selvi (Madurai Central), Mugesh Sharma (Madurai South), and V Suvitha (Madurai West) — submitted their resignation on Monday itself.
Out of the six standing committees, two standing committee chairpersons — K Vijayalakshmi, of the Taxation and Finance Committee, and J Moovendran of the Town Planning Committee — also submitted their resignation.
Notably, all these officials belonged to the DMK. Official sources said since all these officials have resigned, in their absence corporation officials (commissioner and assistant commissioner have power) and executives are in place to ensure all works are being carried out in all zones.
Tax fraud
The fraud came to light in August 2024, after an audit revealed irregularities in property taxes. The corporation issued notices and suspended five bill collectors in connection with the charges. They were caught allegedly misusing their Urban Tree Information System login credentials to alter property tax data.
On a complaint from the then corporation commissioner, Dinesh Kumar, in September 2024, police booked a case in this connection. The 10-month-long probe by the police team brought the major scam to light. The arrested staff allegedly reduced property taxes for over 150 buildings in the city and caused revenue loss for the corporation.