Former Minister R. Vaithilingam.
| Photo Credit: R.M. Rajarathinam
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a protest petition before the Principal Sessions Court in Chennai objecting to a move by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) to close a ₹27.90 crore bribery case against former AIADMK former Minister R. Vaithilingam who had resigned his MLA post in January 2026 before joining the DMK.
The protest petition, filed throug ED Special Public Prosecutor N. Ramesh, stated that the DVAC had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Mr. Vaithilingam on September 19, 2024 for an alleged offence committed by him during his tenure as Minister for Housing and Urban Development in former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet between 2011 and 2016.
According to the FIR, Mr. Vaithilingam, in his capacity as ex-officio chairman of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, had received a bribe of ₹27.90 crore from Shriram Properties and Infrastructure Private Limited (subsequently renamed as Gateway Office Parks Private Limited) for granting planning permission to construct 1,453 additional buildings on 57.94 acres of land at GST Road in Perungaluthur, Chennai.
Since the FIR had been booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) of 1988, the ED too registered a Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on October 1, 2024 and initiated investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The central agency completed its probe and filed a prosecution complaint (similar to a charge sheet) before the Sessions Court, which was also the special court for PMLA cases, on July 14, 2025.
The PMLA investigation revealed that Bharath Coal Chemicals Limited (a group company of Shriram Properties) had paid ₹27.90 crore to Muthammal Estates Private Limited, a company beneficially owned and controlled by Mr. Vaithilingam and his family members, in multiple tranches between January 28, 2016 and February 4, 2016 being the bribe consideration for the planning permission.
As a result of the payment, the planning permission pending since December 2, 2013 was cleared on February 24, 2016, within three weeks of receipt of the bribe thereby conclusively establishing the quid pro quo. Further, the bribe amount was immediately invested in purchase of immovable properties in the names of the family members of the accused and their current market value exceeds ₹100 crore, the ED said.
Stating that it had provisionally attached all those properties pending trial in the PMLA case, the ED said that it had shared the interim findings of its investigaiton with the DVAC on March 10, 2025 and also transmitted the entire copy of the prosecution complaint on May 19, 2026 with a specific request to the State agency to utilise those materials before filing the final report in PCA case.
However, in the interregnum, Mr. Vaithilingam quit the AIADMK in January 2026 and joined the DMK which was the then ruling party. Immediately, the DVAC filed a closure report in the PCA case before the Sessions Court in the last week of February 2026 “in suspicious proximity to the expiry of the term of the then State government,” the protest petition filed by ED Assistant Director Gopal Gulabrao Gadge read.
It went on to state: “The filing of a closure report (by the DVAC) in a case involving a complete and documented money trail, just before a change of government and without taking into account the comprehensive evidence furnished by the peittioner department under Section 66(2) of the PMLA raises grave doubts about the bona fides of the investigation.”
Fearing that the PMLA case investigated by the ED would collapse if the accused escapes from the DVAC case, the central agency urged the sessions court to reject the closure report filed by the DVAC and consequently direct the State agency to conduct a further investigation before filing a comprehensive final report/chargesheet in the PCA case too.
The protest petition is expected to be taken up for hearing by the Sessions Court on Friday (June 12, 2026).
Published – June 12, 2026 06:45 am IST
