Never said DVAC will challenge court order on CBI probe: Ponnaiyan

Chennai: AIADMK senior C. Ponnaiyan has denied that he had said DVAC will challenge the Madras high court order directing a CBI probe into the highways contract irregularities case.

Reacting to DMK chief MK Stalin’s statement, Mr Ponnaiyan said on Sunday the DMK leader was “totally wrong and probably was under the wrong notion that lies if uttered repeatedly might turn true.”

“As Stalin claims, I never said that DVAC will appeal against the court order. This is totally wrong. DVAC is an autonomous institution and it abides by the court order… I had said DVAC may go on an appeal, in reply to a question (from a reporter),” Mr Ponnaiyan who is AIADMK’s organising secretary said.

Contending that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami was the first to bring transparency in tenders for works in the highways department, Ponnaiyan said when DMK was in power, it followed the ‘box’ tender system.

“This was easy for them (DMK) to grant work to their own people. However, after Palanisami became Chief Minister, he made it online. And for the first time in the country all payments were initiated through RTGS, dispensing with the system of bank guarantee, by Palaniswami,” Ponnaiyan added.

For instance, the tender for maintenance of Ottanchathiran - Avinashi road, was quoted for Rs 10 crore for one km. But, for the same during the DMK government, it was fixed at Rs 33 crore, he said and wondered if DMK’s act did not amount to irregularity, then what could it be termed.

Citing the 1962 GO, the AIADMK leader said the contention that the Chief Minister showed favouritism and awarded contracts to his relatives is not true.

“Those in Ramalingam Company (one who got the contract) were not his blood relatives and the tender was awarded in a transparent manner,” he said and added, “During 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2010, DMK government granted contracts for the same company.”