KN Nehru. File | Photo credit: S. Siva Saravanan
AIADMK Rajya Sabha member IS Inbadurai on Thursday (February 26, 2026) filed a contempt of court petition against Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (V&AC) AT Durai Kumar (in-charge) for not filing an FIR in connection with the alleged fraud at the Nehru Labor and Water Management Department.
Earlier in the day, the MP’s counsel had orally mentioned before a first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan that the court had on February 20, 2026 ordered the registration of the FIR immediately, but the DVAC had not done so even after six days. The president of the court stated that the matter will be discussed if the relevant motion is filed in court.
Subsequently, the MP filed a contempt petition against the DVAC director (in charge), accusing him of willfully disobeying court orders. In the affidavit filed in support of his contempt plea, Mr. Inbadurai said that the fraud was of a very serious nature in which bribes ranging from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 35,000,000 were obtained from the candidates for filling 2,538 posts of Assistant Engineers, Junior Engineers and so on.
He said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has discovered credible materials to suspect that the money was obtained through hawala transactions and then transferred into the banking system. These materials were collected during a search and seizure operation conducted by the ED at the residences of the minister’s brothers N. Ravichandran, KN Manivannan and two other associates.
On 20 February 2026, after being convinced of the seriousness of the allegations, the High Court expressed its displeasure that the DVAC had conducted a preliminary investigation without registering an FIR and directed that the FIR must be registered without delay as prima facie materials relating to the offense had not been shared by anyone other than the central money laundering investigation agency.
Despite the court order, DVAC did not register an FIR. The Petitioner therefore claimed that on 25 February 2026 he submitted a statement to the DVAC impressing upon him the need to comply with the directions without delay. Even then there was no action and the petitioner complained and urged the court to punish the IPS officer holding the post of V&AC Director.
Published – 26 Feb 2026 17:17 IST
