HC orders notices to Ministers, bureaucrats in Pongal gift hamper case

Litigant had alleged corruption in distribution of the hampers to 2.15 crore ration cardholders at an outlay of ₹1,296.88 crore

The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered notices to the Registrar of Tamil Nadu Lokayukta, Cooperation Minister I. Periyasamy, Food and Civil Supplies Minister R. Sakkarapani, Cooperation Secretary Md. Nasimuddin and two other IAS officials on a writ petition filed against the refusal of the anti-corruption body to entertain a corruption complaint regarding the distribution of Pongal gift hampers to 2.15 crore ration cardholders at an outlay of ₹1,296.88 crore.

Justice Anita Sumanth ordered notices, returnable by June 10, after hearing preliminary submissions made by senior counsel Vijay Narayan, representing the writ petitioner K.R. Jayagopi, a resident of Kuthambakkam in Tiruvallur district. He urged the court to set aside an order passed by the Lokayukta on March 2 and issue a direction to entertain the complaint and conduct a detailed inquiry on it.

In his affidavit, the litigant said the government had provided a hamper containing 21 commodities to the ration cardholders in January this year. Despite being a high-value tender, only a short e-tender notice was issued on November 17, 2021, for procuring the commodities from various vendors and the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act, 1998, as well as the statutory rules framed under it were flouted, the petitioner alleged.

Low-quality commodities were purchased at exorbitant prices to swindle a huge amount of public money, he claimed.