Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the director general, highways department, to consider and pass orders on a representation, which sought an inquiry into the alleged fraudulent activities committed by two registered contractors and officials colluded with them relating to award of all contracts in the entire state of Tamil Nadu.
Justice K.Ravichandrabaabu gave the directive while disposing of a petition from C.P. Senthil Kumar, a contractor in Chennai.
“The writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the director general, highways department, to consider the representation of the petitioner dated August 26, 2017, and pass orders on the same on merits and in accordance with law, after hearing the petitioner and the respondents (M.Pandithurai, proprietor of M/s Hari Waylines and M/s Rishi Enterprises, the two registered private contractors) and other persons concerned against whom the petitioner has made allegations. The director general shall complete the inquiry and pass final orderswithin 8 weeks. It is open to all the parties to produce all the material documents before the director general at the time of inquiry”, the judge added.
According to petitioner, in the recent past, all the works covered in various tenders floated by the Tamil Nadu highways department were being awarded to certain particular contractors, who were regularly getting contracts in one way or other for obvious reasons. Genuine contractors like him were being neglected by citing flimsy grounds. In highways department, it was a strict rule that no person who was a partner of another contracting company or a member of a company which involves in participating in the tender floated by the department shall be eligible to get registered as contractor in the department. Pandithurai, who was a partner in Rishi Enterprises registered with the office of superintending engineer, Coimbatore. He regularly participates in the tender being floated by the highways department and gets contract in many works. Pandithurai, also having a proprietary concern M/s Hari Waylines, has got himself registered with the department and continued to participate in the tender and got many works in his name. Such registration by Pandithurai was a fraudulent activity by suppression of material fact in which some officials have also colluded, he alleged.
