Madras High Court reserves order on pleas filed by AIADMK leader SP Velumani to quash corruption cases

The Madras High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the petitions filed by AIADMK leader SP Velumani seeking that two cases registered against him on the allegations of illegal civic contracts awarded during his tenure as Minister for Municipal Administration be quashed. .A Bench of Justices PN Prakash and Teekaa Raman said that the Court will pronounce its verdict soon.SV Raju represented Velumani, after the Court earlier took no objection to his appearing as a Senior Counsel and not as Additional Solicitor General.State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammad Jinnah appeared for the Tamil Nadu government.Advocate V Suresh appeared for the NGO Arappor Iyakkam..Velumani had approached the High Court seeking the quashing of two first information reports (FIRs) registered against him last year by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in Chennai and Coimbatore.Before the High Court, his counsel maintained that the former minister had nothing to do with the awarding of the contracts and tenders. It was argued that as a minister, his responsibility was merely to ensure that the contracts were executed properly. He said that the FIRs had been registered against him at the behest of the ruling DMK party..The State, however, denied allegations of mala fides in registering the cases. It said that the DVAC had conducted lawful inquiries and found enough material on record against Velumani. It was contended that Velumani had conspired with other civic officials to ensure that the tenders were awarded to firms owned by his relatives, despite the fact that the bids made were drastically low..Last month, however, the High Court had said that prima facie, it seemed that the FIRs against Velumani were mala fide. "This is a fight between two political parties. Tension between two parties is natural and necessary for the State in a democracy. But please understand, this Court should not be the place for one party trying to score over another. You simply convince us that there is no link between the minister and these parties who got the contracts. Convince us and finish this," the Court had said at the time. .FIRs against AIADMK leader SP Velumani might be mala fide: Madras High Court.In 2019, NGO Arappor Iyakkam had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) highlighting instances of corruption in awarding of tenders by civic bodies in Chennai and Coimbatore, and Velumani's involvement in the same during the AIADMK regime. The High Court had appointed Superintendent of Police R Ponni to probe into the complaints and find out whether any cognisable offence was made out. The officer gave a clean chit to Velumani in December 2019, and in January 2020, the government in power accepted the preliminary inquiry. However, after a change of rule in Tamil Nadu, in May 2021, the DVAC registered two FIRs against Velumani.