PMK urges Governor Banwarilal Purohit to seek TN CM's report on graft charges
Chennai: Presenting a long list of corruption charges in a petition that consumed 44 pages, the PMK on Saturday urged Governor Banwarilal Purohit to seek a report on its document from the Chief Minister and, if his reply was unsatisfactory, to constitute a Commission of Enquiry headed by a former Supreme Court judge to probe this “malevolent cancer”.
PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, the party's Dharmapuri MP, led a delegation of senior party functionaries including president G.K. Mani to present the petition, which listed 24 'serious' charges of corruption in various fields including the Gutka scam, the granite scandal, corruption in power sector and public works, and kickbacks in recruitments to various jobs from clerks to vice-chancellors. “With actionable proof, the PMK accuses the ministers and officers in Tamil Nadu of the corruption charges”, it said.
The petition also referred to allegations of payoffs by sand mining baron Sekar Reddy and said those named in the Income Tax department report - which was given to the state chief secretary but no action was taken - should be probed by the Commission of Inquiry.
The PMK petition also recalled that the party had presented a similar list of corruption charges in a 209-page memorandum on February 17, 2015 to the then Governor Rosaiah.
“Though sufficient proofs have been submitted, the Governor's office has not initiated any action in this regard. A case filed by PMK is pending in the Madras High Court in this regard. Emerging victorious in 2016 elections, the corruption seems never ending”, said the PMK petition.
Expressing hope that as a “sentinel of the Constitution” and in exercise of his powers under Article 167(b) he would call for a report from the CM on the listed allegations “in public interest”, the PMK appealed to the Governor to order an Enquiry Commission headed by a former Supreme Court judge to “ascertain the veracity and order appropriate action”.
Guv greets people on eve of Human Rights Day
Governor Banwarilal Purohit extended his felicitations to the people of the State on the eve of International Human Rights Day. "On the occasion of International Human Rights Day and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I extend my warm felicitations to the people of Tamil Nadu", he said.
"Let us pledge to promote kinship and justice and nurture the values of human dignity and compassion in our effort to create an egalitarian society and a harmonious world," he said as per a communiqué from the Raj Bhavan here on Saturday. The initiatives taken by the State Human Rights Commission to spread awareness about human rights deserve appreciation, he added.
