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Charge sheet filed against 3rd AIADMK leader R Kamaraj for corruption
R Kamaraj is the third minister in the previous AIADMK government to be charged with corruption by Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption since May 2021
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Tuesday said that they have filed a charge sheet against AIADMK’s former minister for food and civil supplies and sitting legislator, R Kamaraj. He is accused of amassing ₹58.44 crore assets disproportionate to known sources of his income between 2015 and 2021 when the AIADMK was heading the state government. His two sons have also been named in the chargesheet.
After the DMK formed the government in May 2021, the DVAC registered corruption cases against a total of six ex-ministers. Among the six, Kamaraj is the third former minister to be charge sheeted by the DVAC. The state agency had filed a charge sheet against former ministers for health C Vijayabhaskar and higher education K P Anbalagan in May.
After completing the investigation, DVAC obtained a sanction for prosecution from M Appavu, the Speaker of the state legislative assembly. The charge sheet was filed before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Thiruvarur against Kamaraj, his sons Dr M K Eniyan and Dr K Inban and his close associates R Chandrakasan, B Krishnamoorthy and S Udayakumar under the prevention of corruption Act 1988 as amended in 2018 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The AIADMK will not be scared of such threatening tactics of the DMK just because they are governing today,” AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar on the developments said.
“This situation will change. The government will change and at that time we will take the DMK’s corruption and law and order deterioration to court.”
DVAC’s action comes amid the state law minister S Regupathy and Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi locking horns over the pendency to grant sanction for prosecution against four former ministers of the AIADMK.
The law minister had accused the governor of protecting the ex AIADMK ministers since without his sanction for prosecution they cannot be taken to court.
The Raj Bhavan has not reacted to the allegation until now.
A political tussle over the cases started on June 5 with the law minister writing a letter to the governor seeking speedy action in two cases – the request by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to sanction prosecution against ex-health minister Vjayabhaskar and ex- commercial taxes minister B V Ramana in the alleged “gutkha scam” from 2016. They are accused of taking bribes amounting to ₹39.91 crore to help transport, store and sell banned tobacco products in Chennai.
The second is a disproportionate assets cases registered by the DVAC against former ministers K C Veeramani (commercial taxes) and M R Vijayabaskar (transport) from 2011 to 2021.
The Raj Bhavan said that the case under CBI is under “legal examination” while action against Veeramani could not be taken “...because the state government has to submit a duly authenticated copy of the investigation report for further action”.
On M R Vijayabhaskar, the Raj Bhavan said that the governor’s office was yet to receive a reference about him. Law minister Regupathy responded by saying that the governor’s office is not telling the truth and released documents in which the Raj Bhavan had acknowledged receiving the documents in the DVAC case on September 12 last year, and again on May 15.
The DVAC had registered a corruption case against Kamaraj and five others including his family and close associates last July in Thiruvarur. Officials of the DVAC took up a probe into the allegation of acquisition of assets and pecuniary resources to the tune of ₹58,44,32,252 which are disproportionate to the known sources of income, the agency said on Tuesday. During the course of investigation, searches were conducted at 51 places by the DVAC and officials seized certain incriminating materials and documents
DVAC through their investigation said that they found that— Kamaraj had acquired shares in NARC Hotels Private Limited, purchased assets in the name of NARC Hotel through his close associates R Chandrakasan, B Krishnamoorthy and R Udhayakumar, constructed a Multi- Speciality Hospital in the name of Sri Kamatchi Medical Centre, a unit of Sri Vasudevaperumal Health Care Private Limited for his two sons Dr M K Eniyan and Dr K Inban, to the extent of ₹127,49,09 which are “disproportionate to the known sources of income for which they could not account satisfactorily.”
