India News | Illegal Sand Mining: TN DVAC Says It Had Obtained Sanction to Prosecute Official
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Tamil Nadu government's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) informed the Madras High Court on Friday that it had obtained the approval from the Additional Chief Secretary, Industries department, to register a case against an official who served as Assistant Director in the Geology and Mining department, in a case of illegal mining.
Chennai, Feb 18 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu government's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) informed the Madras High Court on Friday that it had obtained the approval from the Additional Chief Secretary, Industries department, to register a case against an official who served as Assistant Director in the Geology and Mining department, in a case of illegal mining.
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Recording this, Justice G Chandrasekaran closed a criminal original petition from Gnanarajan of Upparpatti village in Theni district, who prayed for a direction to the DVAC to register a case on his complaint dated July 15, 2021 and proceed further against the accused.
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In his petition, Gnanarajan alleged that government properties to the extent of Rs 500 crore were looted by the officials.
Former deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and his associates had carried out illegal mining of gravel sand, he had alleged. They had also converted the government land as their own property by changing the patta and creating false documents by misusing and abusing their official power, the petitioner further alleged.
In this connection, he had lodged a complaint with the DVAC. As there was no progress, he filed the present petition for a direction to the DVAC to register an FIR and proceed further.
When the matter came up on various occasions, the judge was told that prior approval had been obtained for registering cases against all the accused, except the Assistant Director of Geology and Mining department.
Justice V Bharathidasan had last month directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Industries department to consider the plea, which was granted on February 2.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)