CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has discharged former Annamalai University vice-chancellor M Ramanathan and former registrar M Rathinasabapathi from four corruption cases relating to irregularities in the award of civil construction contracts at the university between 2008 and 2010.
The cases originated from an FIR registered in April 2013 by the DVAC, which filed the charge sheet only in December 2018. The agency alleged that Ramanathan and Rathinasabapathi had violated tender rules and government orders by awarding contracts at amounts exceeding the prescribed limits, resulting in financial loss to the university. The suspects approached the High Court after a Cuddalore trial court had rejected their petitions seeking discharge from the cases.
In its order, the High Court noted that the DVAC did not obtain the sanction required under the Prevention of Corruption Act, citing that the charge sheet was filed only after an amendment to the Act came into force in July 2018. As the trial court took cognisance of the cases after the amendment, the High Court held that prior sanction was mandatory.
The court also found that the material did not establish the basic ingredients of criminal breach of trust, including dishonest misappropriation or conversion of university property. It noted that the contracts were considered by the university’s Building Committee and approved by the Syndicate, and that the Registrar had no independent authority to award the contracts.
The court further noted that Chettinad Builders -- third accused in the FIR and alleged to have derived illegal pecuniary gain from the contracts -- was dropped from the final charge sheet after the investigation. The government had taken the view that the company was neither a conspirator nor a beneficiary.