Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday ordered the Tamil Nadu government to suspend the Raghupathi Commission that is probing the alleged irregularities in construction of the New Secretariat complex at the Omandurar government estate.
The Court directed the state to initiate criminal proceedings if it there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing and asked the commission to hand over all the documents in its possession to the government in a week's time. The previous DMK government had built the Rs 1200 crore new secretariat complex in 2011.
The order came after the court pulled up the state government for wasting public funds on Wednesday after being informed that the commission had spent Rs 4.11 crore. Of this, Rs 2 crore had been spent after 2015, when the HC had stayed the commission’s functioning/
The HC also observed that the AIADMK government did not monitor the functioning of the commission effectively.
The court, terming most of the inquiry commissions an eye wash, had asked what the use of these commissions is when they produce no result and there is already a separate Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption for such probes.
The state government had moved an application seeking to vacate the stay. DMK supremo M Karunandhi's counsel had sought more time to argue on the application moved by the state government claiming that the petitioner is hospitalised. The High Court, on Thursday, refused the DMK plea and posted the final arguments for Friday.Madras
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