Allegations pertain to ‘irregularities in award of civil works to private firms’.
The Madras High Court is mulling over the possibility of ordering a fresh preliminary inquiry by an “independent agency” into allegations of largescale irregularities by Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S.P. Velumani in award of several civil work contracts to private firms by the Greater Chennai and Coimbatore municipal corporations.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha said they might order a fresh probe by an independent agency if they were not satisfied with the preliminary inquiry conducted by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), which had filed an elaborate report, running to hundreds of pages, finding no material to proceed against the Minister.
The judges asked advocates V. Suresh and E. Raj Thilak, representing the complainants Jayaram…