FPJ Impact: Tamil Nadu DVAC Reopens Probe Against AIADMK R Vaithilingam In ₹27.9 Crore Bribery Case

Chennai: A week after stating it would close a corruption case against former AIADMK minister R Vaithilingam, the Tamil Nadu government’s vigilance department on Friday told a Chennai sessions court it would re-investigate the charges against him.

A senior official of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) credited the Free Press Journal article published on June 9 for alerting the government about the closure report. The FPJ exclusive highlighted how the MK Stalin-led DMK government had decided to drop the case a month after he joined DMK on January 21. He is among the 59 DMK candidates who won in the 2026 assembly polls.

Now an MLA from Orathanadu in Thanjavur district, he was the housing and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) minister in the 2011-16 AIADMK regime, during which he was alleged to have taken a bribe of ₹27.9 crore from Shriram Properties and Infrastructure Private Ltd (now Gateway Office Parks) to facilitate planning permissions for a project near Chennai.

The bribe was allegedly routed through Shriram group firm Bharat Coal and Chemicals Ltd (BCCL) to Muthammal Estates Pvt Ltd, a firm run by Vaithilingam’s sons Prabu and Shanmugaprabu. All these parties are also named as accused in the case.

DVAC registered the case against Vaithilingam, his sons and officials of the private firm in September 2024 based on a complaint filed by NGO Arappor Iyakkam. Though the closure report was filed in court on February 25, DVAC confirmed the closure on June 4, four weeks after the new TVK government under CM Joseph Vijay took office. Activists questioned whether the decision was taken with the concurrence of Vijay or the new DVAC director, A Arun IPS, who took charge on May 25. TVK supporters shared the FPJ report on social media and urged Vijay to reverse the decision, noting that the party had aggressively positioned DMK as their main political opponent before the elections. Official sources indicated that the establishment was unaware of the June 4 decision. “After the FPJ report, we decided to reverse the decision,” an official said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which registered a money laundering case using the DVAC case as a predicate offence against Vaithilingam, had attached Rs 100 crore in properties and filed a chargesheet in the case. The ED approached the Sessions court opposing DVAC’s closure report and shared its investigation details with DVAC on May 19, asking them to utilise the findings in their case. Closure of the DVAC case would have ensured that the ED’s case also collapsed.

Arappor Iyakkam also approached the court on Friday, requesting a copy of the closure report. Along with DVAC’s fresh plea, the Sessions court will hear both petitions on June 29.