The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday called for a report on the progress made in the investigation into an alleged property tax scam in the Madurai Corporation.
A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and A.D. Maria Clete gave the direction after the State informed the court that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Madurai Range) Abhinav Kumar had been constituted, and the probe was under way.
Taking note of the submission, the court directed the authorities to file a report, and adjourned the hearing by two weeks.
Last week, the court had directed the Inspector-General of Police (South Zone) and the Madurai Commissioner of Police to constitute an SIT, headed by a senior IPS officer with proven integrity, to conduct the investigation.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by AIADMK Councillor T. Ravi (ward 83) of Madurai, who sought the transfer of the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The petitioner said that last year information regarding the alleged scam surfaced in which several persons had benefited. Based on a complaint given to Madurai Corporation Commissioner, a committee had been constituted to detect any irregularities.
After receiving the report of the committee, the Corporation Commissioner lodged a complaint with the Madurai Commissioner of Police. The scam which occurred between 2022 and 2024 had caused a loss of around ₹200 crore to the Corporation, he alleged.
Though the complaint was lodged by the Corporation Commissioner in 2024, a case was registered only in 2025, after about seven months. There was a long delay in registering the case and action was being taken against the low-profile persons and not the real culprits, he said.
It was contended that several political persons were involved in the scam and based on the instructions of the Chief Minister, five Zonal Chairpersons and two Committee Chairpersons had resigned from their posts enabling the government to conduct free and fair investigation, the court observed.
The court observed a scam of this magnitude had to be investigated by an IPS officer and the probe should be monitored by higher authorities to ensure that there were no lapses and that no one was left out of the ambit of prosecution. All those responsible and accountable for causing a huge financial loss to the Corporation should be prosecuted, the court observed.
Published – July 25, 2025 08:57 pm IST
