CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will look into the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) plea seeking approval to prosecute two former ministers, two retired DGPs, and eight others in the multi-crore gutka scam.
The CBI's anti-corruption unit has written to the State government seeking sanction for proceeding against former State health minister C Vijayabaskar and former commercial taxes minister BV Ramana, who were part of the erstwhile AIADMK government.
It also sought permission for action against former DGPs TK Rajendran and S George, who had worked as Chennai Commissioner of Police under the previous government. "The government is looking into it," said an official source.
The gutka scam came to light on July 8, 2017, when Income Tax (I-T) sleuths raided offices and residences of Jayam Industries (now known as Annamalai Industries) which had been facing charges of tax evasion worth Rs 250 crore, and seized a diary containing incriminating evidence linking top officials of the State.
Later, I-T sleuths inspecting Poes Garden stumbled upon letters exchanged between the I-T department and top bureaucrats pertaining to the case in November 2017.
The CBI took up the case after the Madras High Court in a judgement dated April 26, 2018 directed the CBI to probe all aspects of the offence of illegal manufacture, import, supply, distribution, and sale of gutka and other forms of chewable tobacco, which are banned in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.