"Governor trying to save former AIADMK ministers from graft charges": TN minister

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 7 : Tamil Nadu Law Minister Thiru S Regupathy on Thursday wrote to Governor RN Ravi seeking prosecution of former AIADMK ministers while alleging that the latter was shielding the Opposition leaders from corruption charges.

Responding to a press note from Raj Bhawan, mentioning that the state has to submit an authenticated letter in respect of former AIADMK minister KC Veeramani and that no request or reference has been received from the government for sanction against former minister Vijaya Bhaskar, Regupathy wrote, "The Governor is trying to save former ministers from corruption charges by saying the Raj Bhavan didn't receive any documents. The Raj Bhawan had approved those documents earlier."

While not naming the BJP, the minister said the governor was busy appeasing a certain political party as opposed to fulfilling his constitutional mandate.

"Even after receiving documents from Government but saying not received shows Governor RN Ravi besides doing political constitutional works is only doing Party Political works. This also raises the question of whether Raj Bhavan is not under the Governor's control. Raj Bhavan Press release is baseless without proof and once again we request to give the nod to sanction prosecution against former AIADMK ministers on corruption charges," the letter read.

He claimed further that the Tamil Nadu Governor showed urgency in sacking former minister Senthil Balaji but was not demonstrating similar alacrity in prosecuting former AIADMK minister in alleged corruption cases.

"Governor RN Ravi shows urge in sacking Senthil Balaji from the cabinet but now by passing baseless reasons, he is not giving sanction to prosecute former minister in corruption charges," the letter read.

After sacking the jailed DMK minister from the cabinet, the governor later directed that the order be held in abeyance.

This is the second letter from Regupathy to Governor RN Ravi in two days, in a further escalation of the power tussle between the DMK government and the Raj Bhavan in light of the Balaji episode.

Earlier, on July 5, Regupathy urged Governor Ravi to accord early sanction to prosecute former ministers C Vijaya Baskar, BV Ramana, KC Veeramani and MR Vijayabhaskar on various corruption charges.

Regupathy, in his letter, said that files on the former ministers and a few Bills were also pending his ascent at Raj Bhavan for many months.

"According to the High Court order, the CBI registered a criminal case against former AIADMK Minister C Vijayabhaskar and P V Ramana on allegations of getting the amount from Guktha distributors. After the investigation, the CBI asked for a nod to prosecute them in court. Those documents asked by CBI were sent to the Governor's office on September 12, 2022, by the State Cabinet. Unfortunately, till today we haven't received any reply to that letter which results in delays investigation of this case," the letter read.

"Similarly, on two incidents DVAC asks for the nod to prosecute former Ministers M R Vijayabhaskar and K C Veeramani. Regarding this also after getting prior permission from Cabinet, those letters were sent to the Governor's office on September 12, 2022 and May 15, 2023. Till today on this also the Governor hasn't given any approval to prosecute former Ministers on the court," it added.

Balaji was dismissed by Governor Ravi from the government following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 in a cash-for-jobs scam.

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