Court refuses to discharge Tangedco commercial inspector from graft case

SIVAGANGA: The special district court for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act recently refused to discharge C Selvaraj (42), Tangedco commercial inspector at Puzhuthipatti, from a graft case. The complainant, P Karuppiah, drilled a borewell at Karumipatti and applied for a free electricity connection under a government scheme. However, Selvaraj demanded Rs 2,500 as a bribe for sanctioning the connection. Karuppiah informed about this the DVAC sleuths, who laid a trap and caught Selvaraj red-handed.

In his discharge petition, Selvaraj said there were lapses in the DVAC’s procedure for securing permission from the Tangedco to prosecute him, and some details in the arrest report and the remand report card also didn’t match.

Special judge N Senthil Murali refused to accept the first claim and asked whether criminal proceedings could be quashed simply because the prosecution sanction was delayed. A printing mistake in the arrest or remand report is also not a ground to discharge a suspect, the court said and quashed the discharge petition.