NEW DELHI:The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on pleas challenging the Madras High Court’s order to transfer the multi-crore gutka scam in Tamil Nadu from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to the CBI.
During a brief hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi for the gutka scam accused said, “The transfer of case by the High Court Division Bench to the CBI contradicts earlier co-ordinate Bench decision concluding the case does not warrant CBI probe.”The alleged multi-crore gutka scam has the involvement of Health Minister C Vijaya Basker and DGP T K Rajendran.
The High Court order, delivered on a plea filed by DMK MLA J Anbazhagan, had said the underground gutka business was a crime and, therefore, a CBI probe was necessary. In 2017, the Income Tax department conducted raids on a gutka manufacturer. During the raids, the department seized a diary containing the names of those who were believed to have been paid off by the gutka manufacturers, and one of them was the state’s Health Minister.Challenging the order, Health department said the High Court erred in directing CBI probe when the DVAC investigation was in an advanced stage.