Savvy Thakur
Published on: October 28, 2022 at 17:42 IST
On Thursday, the Madras High Court said that the court shouldn’t be used as a place where political parties can score points against one another.
The petitions filed by former AIADMK Minister SP Velumani to quash the FIRs filed against him claiming irregularity in granting tenders were being heard by the bench of Justices PN Prakash and RMT Teeka Raman.
The court observed that the situation appeared to be a conflict between the two political parties while hearing the case.
The court emphasized that the court should not be a place where parties come to score points against one another, despite the fact that war was quite natural.
“Two political parties are at odds in this. In a democracy, tension between parties is normal and necessary for the state. However, please understand that this court should not be used by one party to score points against another.”
The court also noted that the case appeared to be filed with malice on the surface.
The State was unable to properly investigate the officers involved in the alleged irregularity despite the length of time that had passed.
“This is not a case of murder. You had ample time to conduct a thorough investigation and identify the public servants who awarded the tenders in loyalty to the minister in this instance. You haven’t done anything right. You went to court without doing your homework.”
ASG and Senior Advocate SV Raju, who was representing the former Minister, said on Thursday that there was no issue with the contract’s execution.
The allocation of the tender was the only thing that was criticized. His sole duty as a Minister was to ensure that the contracts were carried out correctly.
As a result, he was merely being framed on behalf of the DMK party and had nothing to do with the awarding of the contracts.
Background
The former Minister was accused of engaging in dishonest practices when it came to awarding contracts to corporations.
In violation of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act of 1998, the rules, and the Competition Act, it was alleged that he had deliberately reduced the number of tenderers for public works and given contracts to his close associates.
In 2019, investigation officer R Ponni submitted a preliminary inquiry report to the DVAC.
The report gave Velumani a clean bill of health, and the government decided not to file charges against him.
After a change in government in 2021, a new DVAC report citing the 2016 and 2020 CAG reports was filed, and a FIR was filed against the former minister following raids at his residence.