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Chennai, Nov 10 (IANS) The Madras High Court on Monday expressed strong displeasure over the inordinate delay in granting sanction to prosecute two IAS officers accused in the Rs 98.25 crore corruption case involving former AIADMK minister SP Velumani.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, who was hearing the contempt petition filed by anti-corruption organization Arappor Iyakkam, questioned why “the wheels of prosecution move very slowly” when the accused are Indian Administrative Service officers.
The case, investigated by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), pertains to alleged irregularities in the awarding of corporation contracts during Velumani’s tenure as Municipal Administration Minister.
The judge said that the DVAC had completed its investigation by early January 2024, yet IAS officers KS Kandasamy and K. Vijaya had failed to obtain sanction to prosecute Karthikeyan. He directed the agency to explain the reasons for the delay, especially since the sanction to prosecute Velumani was obtained from the Legislative Assembly Speaker on February 12, 2024.
Advocate V. Suresh, appearing for Arappor Iyakkam, argued that the delay resulted in unnecessary public expenditure. He pointed out that the government was forced to spend around Rs 30 lakh to translate around 12,000 pages of documents into English – a requirement imposed by the Center only from October 2024. “If approvals had been obtained earlier, this expense could have been avoided,” he argued. Justice Venkatesh agreed, saying that DVAC was “obliged to list the reasons for not obtaining approval between January and October 2024.”
He further commented that in many corruption cases, the courts have to “instigate the investigating agencies” at every stage – from filing the FIR to obtaining clearance – before any real progress can be made.
The court was informed that the DVAC had sought approval from the Center only on August 30, 2025, after the contempt petition was filed by Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam. The request was initially returned due to lack of translated documents and resubmitted on November 7, 2025 after translation at public cost.
When the judge inquired about the Centre’s time limit to act on the sanction request, Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Tilak said the outer limit was three months and assured that he would collect clarifications from all the investigating officers involved from January 2024 onwards.
Justice Venkatesh said, “The state shows promptness in everything; the same promptness should be shown in fighting corruption.” He warned that public confidence in governance depends on swift and transparent action.
The court adjourned the contempt petition for further hearing.
–IANS
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