Can examination of 90 witnesses and collection of 94 documents be called a preliminary inquiry, wonder judges
The Madras High Court on Thursday reserved its orders on a writ petition filed in 2013 accusing Milk and Dairy Development Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji of having amassed wealth disproportionate to his known source of income ever since he held the post of vice-president of Tiruthangal Town Panchayat (now a Municipality) in Virudhunagar district in 1996.
Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha deferred their verdict after senior counsel I. Subramanian and M. Ajmal Khan, representing the Minister, urged the court to close the case and give a quietus to the issue since the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had conducted a detailed inquiry and given a clean chit to the Minister.
On June 12, 2018 the judges had directed the DVAC to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegation by appointing an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer in the rank of…