Court seeks evidence on plea over scam in Madurai prison

The first bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice PD Audikesavalu was hearing a petition by advocate P Pugalenthi seeking direction to the government to conduct an inquiry into the alleged scam.

When the petitioner said the officials in Madurai Central Prison were involved in a scam in selling stationery items to various government offices, including the judicial Department, the bench asked for proof to substantiate the allegation. M Radhakrishnan, counsel for the petitioner, replied that he had submitted an RTI document explaining the scam. However, the judges were not satisfied with the submission.

“The RTI information just says the Prison Department has sold some 2,000 envelopes and other items. However, you are alleging that the department sold two lakh envelopes. Where is the evidence for this,” Justice MN Bhandari asked the petitioner. Advocate Radhakrishnan said his client had obtained the information confidentially through his sources, but the court rejected the contention.

The bench also noted that the petition was not maintainable unless the petitioner submitted material to prove his allegation. “You should have done research before filing this petition before the High Court. Otherwise, it would be dismissed,” the bench noted. When the court granted liberty to the petitioner to file a fresh petition with proper evidence, the counsel said that he was withdrawing the petition.

In his writ petition, Pugalenthi had alleged that the Madurai Central Prison prepared bills for large quantities of stationery articles that were apparently supplied to district courts and other government offices, while the actual supply was of much lesser quantity.

“By getting those bills passed by the concerned drawing officers, the Superintendent of Prisons, Madurai Central Prison, was instrumental in misappropriating public money to the tune of more than Rs 30 crore between June 1, 2019, and June 30, 2021,” he claimed and sought a probe by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption wing into the alleged scam.