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The communicative truthful far: The Madras High Court, connected Friday (Feb 20, 2026), directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) to registry a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the cash-for-jobs scam successful the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department.
The FIR was ordered to beryllium booked connected the ground of a 232-page dossier that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had shared with the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) connected October 27, 2025 and submitted earlier the Madras High Court successful a sealed screen connected February 5, 2026. The Hindu has accessed the 232-page dossier arsenic good arsenic different 258-page dossier to find retired what precisely had the ED unearthed.
How did the ED cod materials related to the alleged cash-for-jobs and tender scams?
The ED had conducted searches astatine 14 premises successful Chennai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore connected April 7, 2025 successful transportation with a slope fraud lawsuit booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against True Value Homes. This is simply a existent property steadfast tally by Municipal Administration Minister K.N. Nehru’s member N. Ravichandran successful his capableness arsenic its managing director.
Then, the ED had registered a Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) for probing the anticipation of offences nether the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 excessively having been committed utilizing the wealth progressive successful the slope fraud case. The searches led to seizure of respective documents, integer devices and evidences from Mr. Ravichandran, their different member K.N. Manivannan, TVH wide manager D. Ramesh, TVH manager T. Selvamani and TVH erstwhile manager Kavi Prasad.
However, the Madras High Court connected July 7, 2025 quashed the complaint expanse filed by the CBI and hence the ED’s ECIR excessively got closed since determination was nary predicate offence (a superior transgression that had led to procreation of amerciable proceeds). The ED returned each the seized materials but retained the WhatsApp chats and photos it had downloaded from the iPhones of the 5 individuals and shared the accusation obtained from those materials with the Tamil Nadu DGP arsenic required nether Section 66(2) of PMLA.
The accusation was categorised nether antithetic heads and aggregate dossiers were sent to the DGP. The 232-page dossier sent connected October 27, 2025 had confined itself to accusation related to the cash-for-jobs scam. The 258-page dossier sent connected December 3, 2025 had dealt exclusively with the accusation related to corruption successful grant of authorities tenders and contracts successful the MAWS department.
Did ED stock accusation with Union Home Ministry too?
The 258-page dossier had stated respective IAS and IPS officers excessively were successful interaction with Mr. Kavi Prasad. It read: “The investigation of the telephone of Kavi Prasad shows that assorted IAS/IPS officers were successful interaction with him for assorted purposes which violates assorted behaviour rules and marque them unbecoming of a Government servants (sic). The chat conversations and photos of the chats, names of specified officers recovered by ED are not being discussed present arsenic a abstracted study would beryllium prepared connected the said issue, truthful arsenic to gully the attraction of their cadre controlling authorities, i.e., DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) and Home Ministry of the Government of India. This study is lone connected the contented of corruption successful authorities contracts of Tamil Nadu.”
What did ED retrieve from mobile phones?
The ED had recovered hundreds of WhatsApp chats and photos stored successful the mobile phones suspecting aggregate transgression activities. While it had chiefly relied upon the WhatsApp chats betwixt Mr. Ramesh and others for arriving astatine a decision that a scam had taken spot successful filling up of 2,538 vacancies successful the MAWS department, the WhatsApp chats betwixt Mr. Kavi Prasad and others had been the superior absorption erstwhile it came to the suspicion of manipulation of authorities tenders.
The ED stated the MAWS section had issued a recruitment notification connected February 2, 2024 for nonstop recruitment to assorted posts specified arsenic Assistant Engineers and Junior Engineers carrying a wage standard of ₹37,700 - ₹1,38,500 and Sanitary Inspectors carrying a wage standard of ₹35,400 - ₹1,30,400. The enactment was to beryllium made done written examinations followed by interviews and the work of selecting the meritorious candidates was entrusted to the Anna University successful Chennai. The enactment process ended connected February 17, 2025 and the Chief Minister handed implicit the assignment letters to the selected candidates connected August 6, 2025.
The forensic backup of Mr. Ramesh’s iPhone 15 Pro led to find of the exertion forms, hallway tickets and interrogation telephone letters of respective candidates having been shared with him by antithetic individuals. Mr. Ramesh had responded to immoderate of those messages saying ‘done.’ In 1 of the chats connected February 1, 2025, a idiosyncratic named N.K.L. Durai had shared a photograph of a Microsoft Excel worksheet containing 4 candidates’ names stating they had been referred by Namakkal MLA P. Ramalingam of DMK. The ED besides recovered a photograph of different Microsoft Excel worksheet successful the representation assemblage of Mr. Ramesh’s telephone and it had the names of 4 pistillate and 3 antheral candidates and stated they had been recommended by Ramanathapuram MLA Katharbatcha Muthuramalingam.
“The supra chats amusement that the results of MAWS Dept jobs were being manipulated by Sh. D. Ramesh arsenic per the wishes of the politicians successful instrumentality for bribes,” the ED said and relied upon akin WhatsApp chats and photos stored successful the mobile phones of the 4 others too. Though a bulk of the candidates mentioned successful those chats had got appointed, immoderate of them had not been selected and the ED stated the second mightiness not person paid the bribe magnitude ranging from ₹25 lakh to ₹35 lakh.
‘Modus operandi to crook achromatic wealth into white’
Relying upon the photos of ₹10 currency notes and their serial numbers that person been shared too, the ED concluded the bribe amounts had been collected done Hawala transactions. It said, an idiosyncratic whose telephone fig had been saved arsenic Veeramani had sent a photograph to Mr. Ramesh of a container afloat of currency notes worthy astir ₹1 crore and it matched with the magnitude collected for selecting 3 candidates astatine the complaint of ₹35 lakh each.
The ED besides stated definite chats related to RTGS transfers made to Shree Basaveshwara Sugars Limited proved that the Hawala wealth was brought backmost into the banking system. “The RTGS are made to sweetener institution named Shree Basaveshwara Sugars Ltd arsenic it is an entity which deals successful currency transactions of relating to agriculture and farmers. The laundering is overmuch easier successful the said sector,” the ED claimed.
The 232-page dossier sent to the DGP by ED Additional Director Abhyuday A. Anand besides read: “The relatives and adjacent associates of Sh. K.N. Nehru were progressive successful manipulation of MAWS exam process. The said persons had entree to confidential introspection information. The said persons collected bribes for getting candidates selected for jobs successful MAWS department... All the supra activities were with the progressive cognition of Sh. K.N. Nehru, Minister for MAWS department.”
Was determination immoderate grounds to nexus the Chief Minister?
The ED had chiefly relied upon the WhatsApp chats and photos from Mr. Kavi Prasad’s telephone to fishy that helium had been manipulating authorities tenders and collecting 7.5% to 10% of the declaration magnitude from the palmy tenderers towards ‘party fund.’ Referring to a photograph of a calculation expanse sent to him by a idiosyncratic whose sanction had been saved arsenic MLA Nandakumar, successful the phone, the ED said: “This chat shows that adjacent MLAs person to wage Party Fund successful the signifier of bribes. If they don’t wage bribes (Party Fund), they cannot get immoderate authorities contracts.”
Further, referring to akin WhatsApp chats, the ED makes a sweeping connection that “the bribes successful the signifier of Party Fund is collected for the payment of the enactment successful powerfulness and which is moving the Tamil Nadu Government. The enactment successful powerfulness and which is moving the Government successful Tamil Nadu is DMK. The DMK governmental enactment is headed by Sh. M.K. Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Since the DMK Party is headed by the Sh. M.K Stalin, helium is the existent Chief Minister and his lad is the existent Deputy Chief Minister. The nonstop beneficiary of the Party Fund (which is astatine 7.5% to 10% of the declaration worth of Government contracts) is Sh. M.K. Stalin, Chief Minister, Government of Tamil Nadu and his lad Sh. Udhayanidhi, Deputy Chief Minister.”
In the aforesaid dossier, the ED had besides said: “Kavi Prasad is technically astute idiosyncratic and helium does not stock overmuch details successful chats. He believes successful gathering radical personally and discussing straight truthful arsenic to guarantee that grounds of bribes are kept secret. He usually keeps his telephone cleanable of evidences relating to bribes. However, inactive immoderate evidences of tender manipulation, bribe collections could beryllium found.”
