Thursday, April 26, 2018

Madras HC orders CBI probe into gutkha scam

The Madras high court today ordered a CBI probe into the alleged multi-crore gutkha scam in which involvement of state health minister C Vijaya Baskar and director general of police T K Rajendran are suspected.




Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose passed the order on two petitions filed by J Anbazhagan, an MLA of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and another by social activist KR Ramaswamy.




In the order, the judges said, "The underground gutkha business is a crime against society and therefore we deem it fit to order a CBI probe into the issue."




In July 8 2016, raids were conducted at the godown, offices and residences of a pan masala and gutka manufacturer in Tamil Nadu, who was facing charges of evading tax to the tune of Rs 250 crore.




Seized during the raid was a diary containing names of those who were believed to have been paid off by the gutka manufacturers.




On January 30, the court noted that the way the Tamil Nadu government was opposing a simple PIL for a CBI probe into the alleged gutka scam was prompting the court to go deeper into the issue, before reserving its verdict on the PIL.


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