Overview
- The Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on Monday dismissed a TANGEDCO official’s appeal, letting the High Court–ordered CBI probe proceed.
- The judges said constitutional courts can direct a CBI investigation without a specific plea and told the agency to act without being swayed by the High Court’s observations.
- The Madras High Court’s April 29 order called for a fresh, de novo probe and told the state anti-corruption unit to transfer all records to the CBI within two weeks.
- Petitions by NGO Arappor Iyakkam and opposition members allege irregularities in buying about 45,000 distribution transformers from 2021 to 2023, claiming a ₹397 crore loss.
- Former electricity minister V. Senthil Balaji denies wrongdoing, citing long-standing tender rules and multi-layer checks, as DVAC, TANGEDCO and the state government now must hand over files and cooperate with the central investigation.