Probe AIADMK plaint against Minister, court tells DGP

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 23. A trial court in Chennai today directed the Director General of Police to take steps to investigate into a complaint filed by the AIADMK, making serious allegations of corruption against the Khadi Minister, Mr. Anthiyur Selvaraj.

Stating that the complaint had to be probed into, the Principal Sessions Judge, Chennai, Mr. V. Viswanathan, directed the complaint to be forwarded to the DGP under Sec.156 (3) of Cr.P.C. The DGP should form a special team, headed by an officer in the rank of a Superintendent of Police, to make a fair and thorough investigation into the complaint. It should submit its report within two months, the PSJ stated.

In the complaint filed under Sec. 200 of Cr.P.C., the AIADMK's advocates wing secretary, Mr. Philip Thomas (represented by counsel, Mr. P. H. Manoj Pandian) submitted that the Minister, along with the then CEO of Khadi Board, Mr. Ajay Battacharya, abetted and conspired with the then Superintendent and caused wrongful loss to the Government. Thereby, they committed offences under Sec.120-B (criminal conspiracy), 192 (fabricating false evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 465 (forgery), 477-A (falsification of accounts), besides offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The complainant submitted that usually stocks from one khadi silk centre were transferred to other centres for which inter-transfer invoices were raised and the superintendent of the receiving centre had to acknowledge the receipt of stocks. He alleged that ``on instructions from the Minister and the official'', the superintendent had raised such invoices to the tune of Rs.2.56 crores, when, in fact, no such stock was transferred. The entire records had been fabricated for cheating.

The irregularities came to light as a result of auditing of accounts. The audit report for 1998-99 clearly stated that loss to the tune of Rs.2.56 crores was caused in the K-6 Silk Sales Depot.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Jayalalitha rules out coalition govt.
Next     : Garbage collection hit