Irregularities in book procurement
Chennai: DMK ’s legal wing has moved Madras high court seeking direction to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a case and investigate the suspected irregularities in the procurement of books for the Periyar Knowledge Centre in Coimbatore.
₹50 crore was allocated to purchase books for the knowledge centre, which was inaugurated on Oct 16, according to the petitioner. He said 162 books authored by a single person, identified as Monica Ravi, had been purchased within six months. The petitioner lodged a complaint with the DVAC on Nov 7 seeking registration of a criminal case and to conduct a probe into the alleged large-scale irregularities, his counsel said.
The petitioner said the chief minister and leaders of various political parties had expressed objections regarding the alleged irregularities. He further said the administrative inquiry ordered by the govt was insufficient and sought an impartial investigation into the allegations instead of attributing responsibility to the previous govt without conducting a proper inquiry. The plea, moved by DMK legal wing joint secretary I Paranthamen, is likely to be taken up for hearing in a couple of days. Hundreds of books attributed to authors named Lakshmi Mohan, Thamarai Panneer, Thamarai Murali and Jyothi Hariharan had also been procured, raising doubts about the authenticity of these authors. The school education minister had also ordered an administrative inquiry into the issue.