The Central government has accorded sanction to prosecute two IAS officers — K.S. Kandasamy and K. Vijaya Karthikeyan — in the tender-irregularities case linked to former Tamil Nadu minister S.P. Velumani, the Madras High Court was informed this week. The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) placed the sanction before Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, and the court was told the investigating agency would now act on it, investigate the two officers and file a final report.

Source: Live Law

The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by the NGO Arappor Iyakkam over delays in the proceedings against Velumani and IAS officers in the case. Taking note of the sanction, Justice Venkatesh orally remarked that the case was a classic example of how criminal law works in the country — moving fast against the poor, but needing to be pushed when influential people are involved. The remarks were oral observations, not a finding on the merits of the allegations.

What the case alleges

Velumani, an AIADMK leader who served as Minister for Municipal Administration, is accused of abusing his official position and extending large-scale favouritism while awarding tenders for road works in the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation to his relatives and close associates. Reports on the case put the alleged irregularities at Rs 98.25 crore. These are allegations: they have not been tested at trial, and the grant of prosecution sanction is not a finding of guilt.

Source: Urban Acres

On Arappor Iyakkam's complaint, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) held a preliminary enquiry and registered an FIR under Sections 120B, 420 and 409 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13(2) read with Sections 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Kandasamy served as deputy commissioner in the Chennai Corporation's works department from December 2014 to May 2017, while Vijayakarthikeyan was Coimbatore municipal commissioner from November 2014 to February 2019.

The DVAC told the court it expected to receive the Union government's order shortly and would then submit its final report against the two officers before the special court. In earlier hearings, DoPT Joint Secretary Sushil Kumar had appeared before the court, said the delay was due to the voluminous documents that had to be gone through, and assured that the process would be completed within two months.

Justice Venkatesh decided the court would keep monitoring the DVAC's further progress and adjourned the hearing to December 2. The sanction removes a procedural block that had stalled the case against the two officers; what happens next is the filing of the final report and, in due course, trial proceedings in which the accused can contest the charges.