Chennai: A day after electricity minister P. Thangamani warned of legal action against him for heaping baseless allegations of irregularities in power purchase from wind farms, DMK chief M. K. Stalin dared the minister to file a defamation case within a week or face legal suit from his side and be exposed the way his DMK had uncovered the gutka scam.
“Minister Thangamani says I have levelled baseless allegations on him. If what I have said is untrue, then let him file a case against me within a week or else I will initiate a case and expose him like we (the DMK) had uncovered the gutka scam,” Stalin said on Friday. Speaking to reporters here he said after the DMK had moved the court on gutka scam, the CBI initiated searches at the premises of the DGP and minister. “But they are still sticking to their positions despite the raids,” Stalin pointed out.
On Thursday evening, after Thangamani refuted his allegation and warned of legal action if Stalin continued to heap up baseless charges and tarnished the image of the government. The DMK president furnished two-page evidence of “bogus energy allotment” and sought to know if Thangamani was prepared to step down. Pointing to this, the DMK chief said, “I have released proof of bogus wind power purchase. On Thursday, Thangamani said he would file cases against me. I am ready to face them as I have proof with me,” Stalin told reporters at Anna Arivalayam here.
While refuting, Thangamani told a crowded press conference that three officials of Tangedco have been suspended for not collecting wheeling charges from a private power company.
Stalin however claimed that in November and December, 2016, 1.35 crore units of power were purchased at a cost of Rs. 9.17 crore from a company, which had nothing to do with power generation through windmills. He released a couple of pages from the audit report signed by assistant audit officer, audit branch of Tangedco, Tirunelveli region, which stated that “bogus energy allotment made without generation is worked out above an amount of '9,17,73,379.”
