3 months ago
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The Madras High Court connected Friday (February 20, 2026) directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to registry a lawsuit forthwith based connected materials shared by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) connected October 27, 2025, levelling a cash-for-jobs allegation successful the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department led by Minister K.N. Nehru.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shirvastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan said the voluminous materials shared by the ED was capable to registry a case. The orders were passed connected a writ petition filed by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Rajya Sabha subordinate I.S. Inbadurai, who had insisted connected the registration of a First Information Report (FIR).
Opposing the 2 writ petitions, Advocate General P.S. Raman representing the State authorities and elder counsel N.R. Elango, representing the DVAC, had told the court, during the people of hearing, that the ED’s October 27 connection addressed to the Director-General of Police was forwarded to the Home Secretary instantly and the latter, successful turn, had forwarded it to the DVAC connected November 1, 2025.
Thereafter, connected November 4, 2025, the DVAC requested the authorities to accord authorisation nether Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) of 1988 earlier commencing a ‘detailed inquiry’, and the authorities promptly accorded the sanction, thereby enabling the DVAC to commencement the ‘detailed inquiry,’ which was much elaborate than a preliminary enquiry arsenic per the DVAC manual, from December 15, 2025, the A-G said.
The A-G stated that the DVAC manual prescribes a clip bounds of 180 days for completing the “detailed inquiry,” during which the bureau whitethorn behaviour searches, summon those progressive successful the complaint, grounds their statements, and past urge to the authorities either the registration of an FIR oregon the dropping of the proceedings based connected the findings of the inquiry.
Mr. Elango, too, had assured the Division Bench that the DVAC would behaviour a due and full-fledged enquiry into the cash-for-jobs complaint. He said the DVAC would adjacent constitute to the ED and question immoderate different materials that were successful possession of the Central bureau successful transportation with the complaint, and told the Division Bench that it was not mandatory for the DVAC to registry a FIR instantly upon receipt of a complaint.
However, ED Special Public Prosecutor N. Ramesh had argued that the exhaustive materials, which the cardinal bureau had shared with the Tamil Nadu DGP, were not successful the quality of accusation but of grounds and therefore, the DVAC indispensable needfully registry a FIR earlier commencing a probe into the issue. He had contended that it was not close connected the portion of the DVAC to behaviour a preliminary/detailed enquiry without registering a FIR.
