O. Panneerselvam denies Sagayam probe delay charge
According to chief minister appointing new person will cause delay in illegal granite quarrying
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-03 05:03 GMT
Chennai: Amid demands from DMK that orders be issued to enable U. Sagayam to go ahead with the probe into illegal granite quarrying, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Sunday said the government’s appeal in the Madras high court against appointing the IAS officer as legal commissioner was to prevent delay in the issue.
The Tamil Nadu government went on appeal against the Madras high court order, appointing Sagayam as legal commissioner as the probe to bring out the scam was over and due legal processes were initiated against those involved, he said in a statement here.
Against such a background, “if a new person (Sagayam) is going to investigate, it will cause delay in the (process) of action already initiated,” he said, adding government took the action as it felt his appointment was not necessary in the given situation. Sagayam as the then Madurai district collector had submitted a report over alleged irregularities in granite mining and put the estimated loss to the exchequer at over Rs16,000 crore.