Ball now in Vigilance Commissioner's court, DVAC tells HC on case against TN CM

In a plaint against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on award of contracts, a preliminary vigilance enquiry has been completed and a Draft Final Report sent to the Vigilance Commissioner, the Madras High Court was informed Tuesday.

Submitting a counter petition in connection with the complaint made by R S Bharathi of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted that the preliminary enquiry by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption was over.

When the case by the DMK leader came up before Justice A D Jagadish Chandira, the Advocate General (AG) after filing the counter, submitted that the Investigation Officer has filed the Draft Final Report (DFR) on the basis of the preliminary enquiry conducted by him.

The DFR was dispatched on August 28 by the Directorate of Vigilance And Anti-Corruption (DVAC) which has reached the Vigilance Commissioner and he has to pass orders on it, the AG submitted.

The matter relates to a criminal original petition filed by Bharathi, who is a Rajya Sabha member and DMK's organising secretary, against Palaniswami.

In his complaint, Bharathi alleged that Palaniswami had misused his official position as a minister during late chief minister J Jayalalithaa's tenure and now as the Chief Minister and awarded contracts for five road projects to his friends, benamis and close relatives.

Palaniswami, by allegedly doing so, caused "loss" to the exchequer to the tune of crores of rupees and enriched himself and others, he alleged.

The petitioner said he had lodged a complaint with the DVAC as early as on June 13 last, but the agency, for reasons not known, did not take any action on it.

When counsel for Bharathi sought time to go through the counter and sought an adjournment, the judge posted the matter to September 7.