New Delhi [India], May 12 : The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the Madras High Court's order transferring the probe into the alleged irregularities in the grant of transformer tenders by the office of former Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V. Senthil Balaji to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment(s)/order(s) of the High Court. Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition(s) is/are dismissed", noted a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta in its order.
The Court was hearing appeals filed against the High Court's direction, including one by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).
During the hearing, TANGEDCO withdrew its appeal challenging the High Court order.
"Learned counsel for the petitioner(s), upon instructions, submits that the present petition(s) may be permitted to be withdrawn Permission, as prayed for, is granted. The special leave petition(s) is/are dismissed as withdrawn", the Court order stated.
Another appeal in the same matter filed by one V. Kasi was also dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The Court further clarified that the CBI investigation would proceed independently and remain uninfluenced by any observations made by the Madras High Court against individuals in its order.
On April 29, a division bench of the Madras High Court transferred the probe into the alleged transformer tender irregularities from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to the CBI.
While ordering the transfer, the High Court raised doubts over the manner in which the DVAC handled the enquiry and observed that the investigation lacked fairness and credibility. The Bench noted that despite receiving detailed complaints, the agency had not registered an FIR, allowed the enquiry to remain pending for over three years and confined the probe to only one official even though multiple individuals had been named in the allegations.
The High Court consequently directed the DVAC to transfer all records and reports to the CBI within two weeks and instructed the central agency to carry out a fresh probe independently.
Subsequently, two appeals were moved before the Supreme Court challenging the High Court's decision to hand over the investigation to the CBI. The apex court, however, declined to interfere with the order on Monday.
The case stems from ten tenders issued by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) between 2021 and 2023 when V. Senthil Balaji was Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister. The tenders were issued for the purchase of around 45,800 distribution transformers valued at nearly ₹1,183 crores.
Petitioner V Kasi was represented by Senior Advocates DS Naidu and Siddharth Dave, along with Advocates Ayush Kashyap Devansh Srivastava, Saijal Arora and Himanshu Tyagi, while TNGEDCO was represented by Advocates Anusha Nagarajan, Aakanksha Bhola and Manav Saluja.
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