CHENNAI: Madras High Court has directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to file by the second week of June, a report on the action taken on a complaint that electricity minister Natham Viswanathan and other officials had caused a loss of Rs 25,000 crore to TN Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) and received a bribe of Rs 525 crore from private solar power firms.
Justice P Devadoss gave the direction, when a criminal original petition from SP Sreenivas of Kotturpuram, came up before him, on Tuesday.
Petitioner alleged that Viswanathan had abused and misused his position as Electricity Minister and entered into agreements with private solar generating companies, including the Adani Group. Certain officials of the TANGEDCO and the TN Energy Regulatory Commission (TNERC) had also colluded with the minister.
They had fixed a rate of Rs 7.01 per MW against the prevailing rate of Rs 5.01 and thereby caused a huge loss of Rs 25,000 crore to the State exchequer.
The minister alone received a bribe of Rs 525 crore, petitioner further alleged. He had lodged a complaint with the DVAC on March 1 last. As there was no action, he preferred the present petition for a direction to the DVAC to consider his complaint and take necessary action.