Supreme Court refuses to interfere with CBI probe ordered into transformer procurement in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi: In a setback to DMK leader V Senthil Balaji, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with a Madras High Court order, which directed a CBI investigation into an alleged Rs 397 crore scam in transformer procurement during his tenure as the state’s electricity minister between 2021 and 2023.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declined to entertain the plea challenging the high court's direction for a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing an official of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), said the case is politically motivated and that there was no specific prayer before the high court seeking a CBI investigation.

The bench, however, said the court was empowered to direct such a probe if circumstances warranted it.

“We don't need a prayer. It depends upon how the court feels," the bench said.

Rejecting the plea, the bench made it clear that the investigation should proceed independently without being influenced by any observations made by the high court.

On April 29, the high court ordered a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities surrounding the procurement of 45,000 distribution transformers by the Tamil Nadu government.

Before the high court, it was alleged that the state ex-chequer suffered a loss of Rs 397 crore between 2021 and 2023.

The high court's order came on a petition filed by NGO Arappor Iyakkam seeking an inquiry by a special investigation team, while AIADMK legal wing functionaries E Saravanan and Rajkumar sought a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities.