CHENNAI: The additional special judge for CBI cases S Jawahar on Wednesday convicted former chairman of Chennai Port Trust K Suresh and sentenced him to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and slapped him with a fine of `10,000 in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch.
Working as Chairman of Chennai Port Trust in 2009, Suresh obtained `12 lakh sponsorship for his son’s admission to BE (Civil Engineering) in Anna University as a favour from Vijayashanti Builders, who were running two weigh bridges on the premises of Chennai Port Trust during that period.
A chargesheet was filed by CBI against K Suresh before the Principal Special Judge for CBI cases, Chennai under section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Suresh, a 1982-batch IAS officer, was under the CBI scanner during his tenure as Chennai Port Trust chairman from September 2004 to July 2009, when he was repatriated to his home cadre, Madhya Pradesh.
It is learnt that Suresh’s name figures in two more cases. These include causing a loss of `20 crore to the Chennai Port Trust by allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy with a Singapore firm. He and two other officials were accused of abusing their official position to allot a berth in the Chennai Port on April 11, 2007 to a non-functional ship, M V San Giorgio, which had to be towed in to the harbour.
Suresh’s role is also being probed in the alleged embezzlement of funds during installation of a conveyor belt system for transporting coal at a cost of `43 crore in 2009.
The probe began after a complaint alleged that a private player given contract for installation had put up only 250 metres of belt against the mandated length of 275 metres.
