ED files protest petition against DVAC’s attempt to close ₹27.90 crore bribe case against former minister Vaithilingam

Former Minister R. Vaithilingam. | Photo credit: RM Rajarathinam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a protest petition in the principal sessions court in Chennai against the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC)’s move to close a ₹27.90 crore bribery case against former AIADMK minister R. Vaithilingam, who resigned as MLA 2026 in January.

The protest petition, filed through Special Public Prosecutor ED N. Ramesh, said the DVAC had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Mr. Vaithilingam on September 19, 2024 for an alleged offense committed by him during his tenure as Minister for Housing and Urban Development in former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s 2011 cabinet between 2011 and 2022.

According to the FIR, Mr. Vaithilingam, in his capacity as ex-officio chairman of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, received a bribe of ₹27.90 crore from Shriram Properties and Infrastructure Private Limited (subsequently renamed Gateway Office Parks Private Limited) for granting planning permission to construct additional buildings on 1.4 cr GST5 Road3 at 1.4 cr. Perungaluthur, Chennai.

As the FIR was registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988, the ED also registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on October 1, 2024 and initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The central agency completed the investigation before the court and filed a special charge sheet in the PMLA court on July 14, 2025.

A PMLA investigation revealed that Bharath Coal Chemicals Limited (a Shriram Properties group company) paid ₹27.90 million to Muthammal Estates Private Limited, a company actually owned and controlled by Mr Vaithilingam and his family members, in several tranches between 28 January 2016 and 4 February 016 bribe for planning permission.

As a result of the payment, on February 24, 2016, within three weeks of receiving the bribe, a building permit was processed, which had been processed since December 2, 2013, definitively establishing the consideration. Further, the bribe amount was immediately invested in the purchase of properties in the names of family members of the accused and their current market value is over ₹100 crore, the ED said.

Stating that it has provisionally attached all these properties pending trial in the PMLA case, the ED said it shared the interim findings of its investigation with the DVAC on 10 March 2025 and also forwarded a full copy of the charge sheet on 19 May 2026 with a specific request to the state agency to use these materials before filing the PCA case.

However, in the interim, Mr. Vaithilingam left the AIADMK in January 2026 and joined the DMK, which was the ruling party at the time. Immediately, the DVAC filed its final report in the PCA case in the Sessions Court in the last week of February 2026 “suspiciously close to the expiry of the tenure of the then state government,” said the protest petition filed by ED Deputy Director Gopal Gulabrao Gadge.

It continued: “The filing of a final report (by DVAC) in a case involving a complete and documented money trail, just before a change of government and without considering the comprehensive evidence provided by the petitioner department under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, casts serious doubt on the bona fides of the investigation.

Fearing that the PMLA case being investigated by the ED would collapse if the accused in the DVAC case absconded, the central agency urged the sessions court to reject the closure report filed by the DVAC and subsequently direct the state agency to conduct further investigations before filing a comprehensive closure report/charge-sheet in the PCA case as well.

The protest petition is expected to be taken up for hearing in the Sessions Court on Friday (June 12, 2026).

Published – 12 Jun 2026 06:45 IST