The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Tuesday told the Madras High Court that there was absolutely no substance in a complaint lodged by DMK MP R.S. Bharathi alleging corruption in tenders called for by the State government for laying fiber optic cables in 12,524 villages at a cost of ₹1,950 crore under the BharatNet project.
Justice N. Sathish Kumar was told by State Public Prosecutor A. Natarajan that another complaint regarding corruption in tender called for a road maintenance project worth ₹1,165 crore was also baseless and hence the DVAC had submitted closure reports to the State government on both complaints on June 2 and 1 respectively.
When a plea for registering a First Information Report regarding the road maintenance project was taken up first, the SPP said, the petitioner had levelled unfounded allegations against Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who also held the Highways Department portfolio. On factual verification, the DVAC did not find any substance and submitted a closure report to the government on June 1.
“The tender was supposed to be opened only on June 1 but the complaint was filed on May 6 itself. At that stage, the petitioner could not allege corruption. Further, it was an e-tender and anyone could participate in it from the comfort of their homes without being bothered about the lockdown to fight COVID-19,” he told the court.
However, since senior counsel R. Shanmugusundaram, representing the petitioner, sought time to get instructions as to whether his client had received the DVAC’s closure report, the judge adjourned the case to Thursday. Thereafter, he took up the second plea by the same petitioner seeking registration of a FIR regarding the fiber optic cable tender.
Senior counsel N.R. Elango argued that an FIR must be registered since the issue involved public money to the tune of ₹1,950 crore. Opposing the plea, Mr. Natarajan said this complaint too had been filed merely on the basis of petitioner’s assumptions even before opening of the tender documents and therefore the DVAC had chosen to close it.
After hearing them, the judge directed the SPP to file a report listing out the factual matrix and adjourned the second petition too to Thursday.
