Chennai: The High Court has ordered the dismissal of a petition filed by DMK former minister K.N. Nehru seeking a review of its order directing that a case be registered on the basis of documents submitted by the Enforcement Directorate, which alleged that officials in the Municipal Administration Department were involved in irregularities by collecting bribes of up to Rs. 634 crore for appointments.
The Enforcement Directorate had sent a letter to the DGP, along with evidence, stating that during the previous DMK regime, irregularities had taken place in the Municipal Administration Department, with Rs. 634 crore collected as bribes for the appointments of 2,538 officials, including assistant and junior engineers, and requested action in this regard.
Based on that, AIADMK MP I.S. Inbadurai had filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking directions to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to register a case against former DMK minister K.N. Nehru and his brothers.
After hearing the petition, the Madras High Court had ordered the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption last February to register a case and conduct an investigation against those concerned in this matter.
However, alleging that no case had been registered against K.N. Nehru and others, a contempt petition was filed on behalf of Inbadurai.
In this situation, review petitions were filed in the High Court by both the K.N. Nehru side and the government side during the DMK regime, stating that the High Court had ordered the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to register a case in this matter without seeking explanations from their side.
Meanwhile, the hearing on these petitions was held before a bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arulmurugan. At that time, it was stated that the review petition filed on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government was being withdrawn.
The Chief Justice bench, which delivered its verdict in this case yesterday, ordered the dismissal of the review petition filed by K.N. Nehru, closed the contempt petition filed by Inbathurai, and permitted the petition filed on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government to be withdrawn.
In the order issued by the judges in this case, ‘‘The High Court, which heard the matter concerning allegations that Rs.634 crore had been illegally collected for appointments in the Municipal Administration Department, reserved its judgment on Feb. 4 and delivered the verdict on Feb. 20.
K.N. Nehru has filed a review petition after remaining silent until the court issued its order and then raising objections.
Moreover, the High Court has only ordered that a case be registered and an investigation be conducted in this matter; it has not confirmed anyone’s allegations.
The mere order to register an FIR cannot be considered proof of the allegations. The petitioner will have full opportunity to present his side during the investigation.
“Since K.N. Nehru’s name was also included in the Enforcement Directorate’s information, the Anti-Corruption Department was ordered to register a case,” it said. It is said that K.N. Nehru has run into trouble in this case because the petition seeking a review was dismissed.
