CHENNAI: Former minister for municipal administration and senior AIADMK leader SP Velumani on Thursday told the Madras High Court that the award of tenders for various projects in Chennai and Coimbatore municipal corporations was done in a transparent manner and there was no “cartel” operating in the process.
The submission was made by senior counsel SV Raju, representing Velumani, before a division bench of justices PN Prakash and RMT Teekaa Raman during arguments on the two petitions filed by the former minister seeking to quash FIRs registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) regarding alleged irregularities in award of tenders and disproportionate assets.
The FIRs were registered on the basis of complaints lodged by Arappor Iyakkam and DMK organisation secretary RS Bharathi. Raju questioned why the accused officers were not named in the FIRs. He said the FIRs did not establish the existence of a “cartel” as alleged, but only stated that the accused officers worked to tweak the award of tenders.
The inquiry report of the then SP of DVAC Ponni did not find any ground to proceed against the former minister and the then State government subsequently dropped the matter. The DVAC registered the FIRs after the regime change owing to “political vendetta”, he argued.
Since the accused officers were not named, Section 171 (A) of Prevention of Corruption Act would not be applicable, Raju said, adding that the entire tender process was carried out in a transparent manner as per provisions of Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tender Act.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, also appearing for Velumani, questioned the procedural lapses in registration of the disproportionate assets case. After the petitioner’s counsels concluded their arguments, the bench posted the matter to Friday for the State government and the other parties to make their submissions.