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The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has granted sanction to prosecute two IAS officers in a corruption case involving alleged ₹98.25 crore irregularities in municipal tenders in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court was informed on Thursday.
The case also involves former AIADMK minister S.P. Velumani and concerns contracts awarded by the Greater Chennai and Coimbatore municipal corporations.
What Did the High Court Direct?
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh was informed on November 12 that the PMO had authorised the prosecution of IAS officers K.S. Kandasamy and K. Vijaya Karthikeyan under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Additional Solicitor General A.R.L. Sundaresan, assisted by Central government senior panel counsel V. Chandrasekar, placed the development before the court.
The judge directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to proceed with filing the charge sheet against all accused in the long-pending case. A copy of the sanction order was submitted to the court during the hearing. The sanction permits prosecution to proceed and does not amount to a finding of guilt against the officers.
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With the approval received, the court removed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) from the list of respondents in the contempt proceedings, as its further participation was no longer necessary. The judge kept the contempt petition pending to monitor progress by the DVAC.
Why Was Prosecution Sanction Delayed?
The issue of prosecution approval had remained unresolved even after the DVAC registered a First Information Report in 2021 and completed its investigation a few years later. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker, M. Appavu, granted sanction to prosecute Velumani on February 12, 2024, but approval for the two IAS officers remained pending.
The complainant, Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam, moved the High Court with a contempt petition against DVAC officials in 2025 over the delay. During earlier proceedings, the judge directed the State to send the papers to the Centre and made the DoPT a party to secure action.
The Tamil Nadu government subsequently forwarded its proposal with supporting documents that had to be translated from Tamil into English. On September 16, 2026, DoPT Joint Secretary Sushil Kumar Patel informed the court that the PMO was the competent authority to grant prosecution sanction. He said the documents had been sent to the Central Vigilance Commission for its views and would thereafter be forwarded to the PMO, with the process expected to finish within two months.
What Is the ₹98.25 Crore Tender Case About?
The complaint concerns alleged irregularities in the award of civil contracts between 2014 and 2018, when Velumani held the Municipal Administration and Water Supply portfolio in the AIADMK government. The DVAC investigation includes the former minister and the two IAS officers.
During the proceedings, Justice Venkatesh criticised the prolonged process of obtaining approval to prosecute senior officials. He observed that law enforcement moves more quickly against poorer people than against influential individuals and called the delay an example of the difficulty in securing prosecution sanction.
The case will now move towards the charge-sheet stage under the court’s direction, while the contempt proceedings remain open for monitoring the DVAC’s next steps.
