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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS RESERVED ON 08.11.2022 DELIVERED ON 30.11.2022 CORAM:
THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE P.N. PRAKASH and THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RMT. TEEKAA RAMAN W.P. No.34845 of 2018 and Crl.O.P. Nos.23428 of 2018 and 21564 and 21565 of 2022 and connected Miscellaneous Petitions W.P. No.34845 of 2018 Arappor Iyakkam represented by its Managing Trustee Jayaram Venkatesan
140-A, Rukmini Lakshmipathy Salai Egmore, Chennai 600 008 Petitioner v
1 The Director Directorate of Vigilance & Anti Corruption No.293, MKN Road Alandur, Chennai 600 016
2 The State of Tamil Nadu represented by its Chief Secretary Fort St. George, Chennai 600 009
3 The Superintendent of Police Anti-Corruption Bureau Central Bureau of Investigation III Floor Shastri Bhavan, No.26, Haddows Road Nungambakkam, Chennai 600 006
4 S.P. Velumani Hon'ble Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Implementation of Special Programme “Senthamarai”
NB5, P.S. Kumarasamy Raja Salai Chennai 600 028
5 The Municipal Administration &
Water Supply Department represented by its Secretary Government of Tamil Nadu Secretariat, Chennai 600 009
6 Greater Corporation of Chennai represented by its Commissioner Ripon Buildings Park Town, Chennai 600 003
7 Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation represented by its Commissioner II Floor, Big Bazaar Street Town Hall Coimbatore 641 001 Respondents (RR 5 to 7 impleaded suo motu vide order dated
04.01.2019 in W.P. No.34845 of 2018)
R.S. Bharathi Petitioner v The Director Vigilance & Anti Corruption
293 MKN Road Collectors Nagar Alandur, Chennai 600 016 Respondent Crl.O.P. No.21564 of 2022 S.P. Velumani Petitioner v
1 State represented by the Inspector of Police Directorate of Vigilance & Anti Corruption Coimbatore
2 Aroppor Iyakkam represented by its Managing Trustee Jayaram Venkatesan No.7, Sathya Plaza II Floor Dr. Thirumoorthy Nagar Main Road Chennai 600 034 Respondents (R2 impleaded vide order dated 07.09.2022 in Crl.M.P.
No.14013 of 2022 in Crl.O.P. No.21564 of 2022)
Crl.O.P. No.21565 of 2022 S.P. Velumani Petitioner v
1 State represented by the Superintendent of Police Special Investigation Cell Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption No.293, MKN Road Alandur, Chennai 600 016
2 Arappor Iyakkam represented by its Managing Trustee Jayaram Venkatesan No.7, Sathya Plaza II Floor Dr. Thirumoorthy Nagar Main Road Chennai 600 034 Respondents (R2 impleaded vide order dated 07.09.2022 in Crl.M.P.
No.14012 of 2022 in Crl.O.P. No.21565 of 2022)
Prayer in W.P. No.34845 of 2018 Writ Petition filed under Article 226 Constitution of India seeking a writ of mandamus directing the first respondent to register an FIR on the basis of the petitioner's complaint dated 12.09.2018 after seeking “previous approval” under Section 17-A(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, from the Governor of Tamil Nadu and to constitute a Special Investigation Team by this Court and consequently, direct that Special Investigation Team to conduct a time-bound, independent, High Court-monitored fair investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Indian Penal Code and other connected Acts.
Prayer in Crl.O.P. No.23428 of 2018 Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking a direction that a Special Investigation Team be constituted to investigate the complaint dated
10.09.2018.
Prayer in Crl.O.P. No.21564 of 2022 Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking to call for the records in connection with Coimbatore V. & A.C. Cr.No.5 of 2022 dated 14.03.2022 for the alleged offences punishable under Sections 120-B IPC and Section 13(2) r/w Section 13(1)(e), 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, r/w Section 109 IPC, 13(2) r/w 13(1)(b), 12 r/w 13(2) r/w 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on the file of the Inspector of Police, DVAC, Coimbatore District and quash the same.
Prayer in Crl.O.P. No.21565 of 2022 Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking to call for the records in connection with the FIR in DVAC HQ Cr.No.16 of 2021 dated 09.08.2021 for the alleged offences punishable under Sections 120-B r/w 420 and 409 IPC and Sections 13(2) r/w 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, r/w Section 109 IPC, on the file of the Superintendent of Police, DVAC, Chennai, Chennai District and quash the same.
| For petitioner in W.P. No.34845 of 2018 & R2 in Crl.O.P. Nos.21564 & 21565 of 2022 | : | Dr. V. Suresh |
| For RR 1 to 3 and 5 in W.P.No.34845/2018, for R1 in Crl.O.P. Nos.21564 & 21565 & sole respondent in Crl.O.P.No.23428/2018 | : Mr. R. Shunmugasundaram Advocate General and Mr. Hasan Mohamed Jinnah Public Prosecutor assisted by: Mr. R. Muniyapparaj Addl. Public Prosecutor Mr. S. Vinoth Kumar Govt. Advocate (Crl. Side) Ms. J.R. Archana | |
| For R6 in W.P. No.34845 of 2018 | : Mrs. P.T. Ramadevi | |
| & F For petitioner in Crl.O.P. No.21564 of 2022 or R4 in W.P. No.34845 of 2018 | : Mr. Siddhartha Dave, Sr. Counsel for Mr. V. Elangovan | |
| For petitioner in Crl.O.P. No.21565 of 2022 | : Mr. S.V. Raju, Sr. Counsel for Mr. J. Karuppiah | |
| For petitioner in Crl.O.P. No.23428 of 2018 | : Mr. N.R. Elango, Sr. Counsel for Mr. Manuraj |
COMMON ORDER
P.N. PRAKASH, J.
In view of the commonality of the facts, the decision in the four cases at hand, viz., W.P. No.34845 of 2018 and Crl.O.P. Nos.23428 of 2018 and 21564 and 21565 of 2022, will be governed by this common order.
2 The dramatis persona in this case is Mr. S.P. Velumani (for short “SPV”) who is stated to have risen from a very humble beginning, being the son of a mill worker in Coimbatore. SPV entered politics by joining the AIADMK, rose to become an MLA from Coimbatore region and later, became a Minister in the State Cabinet. Concededly, he was the Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Implementation of Special Programme Department in the cabinet of Mr. Edapadi Palanisamy, from 23.05.2016 to 06.05.2021.
3 One Mr. R.S. Bharathi, (for short “RSB”), M.P. and Organising Secretary of the D.M.K. gave a written complaint dated 10.09.2018 to the Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (for short “the DVAC”) alleging inter alia that seven entities, viz., KCP Engineers Pvt. Ltd., P. Senthil & Co., Vardhan Infrastructure, Constronics India, Aalayam Foundation Pvt. Ltd., Constromall Goods Pvt. Ltd. and Invicta Meditek Ltd. were awarded various contracts by the Chennai and Coimbatore Corporations and that these entities are run by K. Chandra Prakash, Rajan Chandrasekar and Anbarasan who are, in reality, the benamis of SPV. In particular, it is alleged that Rajan Chandrasekar who owns KCP Engineers Pvt. Ltd. is an AIADMK functionary and P. Anbarasan who runs Senthil and Company is the brother of SPV. The complaint is general in nature and does not disclose any specific item of contract allegedly awarded to any of the aforesaid seven entities. For clarity, we extract the relevant portions from the said complaint dated
10.09.2018:
“8. P.Senthil & Co., is a contractor in Coimbatore. Its Managing Director is Thiru.P.Anbarasan, brother of Thiru.S.P.Velumani. This company has obtained projects worth Rs.15,00,00,000 from Coimbatore Corporation from 2011-15. The Corporation has not disclosed the value of projects undertaken by this company thereafter.
23. The following aspects of the contracts deserve to be investigated:
(i) contracts were awarded to these companies despite no past expertise in the area (KCP Engineers Pvt. Ltd. and Vardhan Infrastructure), (ii) companies undertaking contracts involving activities not authorised by their Memorandum of Association (KCP Engineers Pvt. Ltd.), (iii) contracts with unduly favourable terms causing loss to the public exchequer (KCP Engineers Pvt. Ltd., in a contract with the Coimbatore Corporation involving Rs.38,50,000/- for felling hyacinth trees, they managed to negotiate a clause levying only Rs.50 as daily penalty), (iv) contracts where closing dates were arbitrarily extended only to enable the participation of the companies of benamis of Thiru.S.P.Velumani (contract for multi-level parking by Chennai Corporation), (v) contracts (at least five by Chennai Corporation in 2017-18) where other bidders were all solely rejected on the technical ground of not submitting proper documents with examining the bid price and (vi) contracts (at least five by Chennai Corporation in 2016-18) where only companies of benamis of Thiru.S.P.Velumani participated and more than one of them was accepted at different quotes without negotiating a standard price for all contractors.
25. In Smart City tenders Thiru.S.P.Velumani is exercising undue influence to award contracts to his benami consortium companies. In Rs.100 crores value Smart City tenders to implement and maintain common cloud system governing the citizen mobile application and e- governance in ten smart cities, Thiru.S.P.Velumani misusing his office to award these contracts to Acetech Machinery Components India Private Ltd. by manipulating tender process and transferring the Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation. Incidentally this Acetech is the company which is
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