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Win for Chennai NGO fighting corruption: HC dismisses case filed by Minister Velumani

In what is being perceived as a big win for citizens fighting corruption, the Madras High Court on Monday dismissed petitions filed by Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani and other government civil contractors to gag Arappor Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation. The court rejected the plea on the grounds that the petitioners failed to make out any prima facie case for grant of an interim injunction sought by them.

The Minister, along with civil contractors including Varadhan Infrastructure and KCP Engineers, moved court earlier this year to restrain the NGO from making any statements against them. This came after Arappor Iyakkam released damning evidence of an alleged multi-crore scam spearheaded by Minister Velumani.

In a petition to the High Court, the NGO accused the minister of indulging in corruption and favouritism in awarding contracts pertaining to Coimbatore and Chennai Corporations, thereby violating the Tamil Nadu Tender Transparency Act 1998 and the provisions of Competition Act 2002. The petition was heard by a division bench consisting of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and Rajamanickam, who issued notices to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) of Tamil Nadu, Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the minister.

“After the High Court issued these orders, Velumani and some other contractors filed a case against us demanding a gag order,” says Jayaram Venkatesan, the convenor of Arappor Iyakkam. “In court, they said that we are dispersing false evidence and defaming them,” he adds.

The court, however, sided with the NGO, stating that an “interim injunction could be issued only if the allegations appeared to be entirely false or that they had been made with a mala fide intention.” Justice R Subramanian also agreed that the NGO had documents to back its allegations.

“We submitted all the proof we had collected before even making the allegations,” says Jayaram. “We argued that our allegations were made in public interest because the taxpayer’s money was being misused. Moreover, the constitution gives the freedom of speech to make arguments based on hard evidence,” he adds.

Source: The News Minute