Madras High Court refuses to recall order on CBI probe against Rajenthra Bhalaji

K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji. File
| Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

The Madras High Court on Tuesday (April 29, 2025) refused to recall an order passed by it on January 6 ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in a cash-for-job case registered against former AIADMK Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji and another partyman in 2021.

Justice P. Velmurugan rejected a recall petition filed by the Inspector of Police, Virudhunagar District Crime Branch police, after taking note that the prosecution had already approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s order and even obtained interim orders.

Filing an affidavit in support of the recall petition, M. Uthyasoorian, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Virudhunagar DCB, said, cases should be transferred to the CBI only in exceptional circumstances and that such power must be exercised by the courts sparingly as held by the Supreme Court in multiple decisions.

The DSP also stated that only cases that were pending investigation could be transferred from one agency to another. In so far as the case against the former Minister was concerned, the investigation had been completed and only the sanction to prosecute him had to be obtained from the competent authority, he said.

Citing a 2022 Supreme Court verdict on High Court’s power to recall its orders on account of procedural errors, the DSP said: “In the present case, the process of investigation has been completed but the court has directed the CBI to conduct investigation and file a final report. Hence the transfer of investigation, which has already been completed, is an error apparent on the face of law.”

The DSP also brought it to the notice of the High Court that the Supreme Court had on January 8, 2025 granted six weeks time for the police to obtain sanction for prosecution and hence the order passed by the High Court on Janaury 6, 2025 for a CBI probe must be recalled.

Justice Velmurugan had ordered the tranfer of the investigation from the Virudhunagar DCB (DCB) to CBI after being displeased over the delay in obtaining sanction to prosecute the former Minister despite multiple opportunities given to the prosecution to do so.

The cash-for-jobs scam case was originally booked on the basis of a complaint lodged by S. Ravindran of Sattur who had claimed to have been cheated of ₹30 lakh which he reportedly paid to the Minister, through AIADMK functionary K. Vijaya Nallathambi, for securing Aavin District Manager’s job for his nephew.

The DCB had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against both of them on the basis of the complaint. Subsequently, another FIR was also registered against the former Minister on the basis of Nallathambi’s complaint that he had collected around ₹3 crore from various individuals for government jobs but none of them got the jobs.

Since no significant progress was made by the police on his complaint, Mr. Ravindran had approached the High Court in 2024 and sought a direction to the DCB to complete the investigation and file a charge sheet within a stipulated time period.

Justice Velmurugan disposed of the plea on November 15, 2024 after recording a government advocate’s submission that the investigation had been completed and the police were awaiting grant of sanction, from the appropriate authority, to prosecute the accused.

Then, the judge also directed the DCB to obtain the sanction within a reasonable time period and file the charge sheet as soon as possible. He also directed the Registry to list the petition after a month for reporting compliance of his orders.

Accordingly, when the matter was listed on January 6, 2025, the government counsel sought two more days to obtain sanction for prosecution. Irked over such a request, the judge said, the State police appeared to be too busy to comply with court orders and therefore, the matter should be handed over to the CBI.