Selvaganapthy convicted in scam

A special CBI court convicted the former AIADMK Minister and sitting DMK Rajya Sabha MP, T.M. Selvaganapathy, two retired IAS officers and two others in the cremation shed scam case probed by the CBI. The court sentenced Mr. Selvaganapathy, the then Minister for Rural Development and  Local Administration; J.T. Acharyulu, former Secretary, Rural Development; M. Sathyamurthy, former Director, Rural Development; M. Krishnamurthy, retired project officer; and T. Bharathi to two-year rigorous imprisonment and imposed a penalty of Rs. 25,000 on each of them. Following the conviction, Mr. Selvaganapathy incurs instantaneous disqualification under the amended Representation of the People Act.

Rejecting their plea for leniency, the judge observed: “The accused do not deserve [any] leniency in the sentence.” The case was registered by the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch on May 2, 1997.

The agency alleged that Mr. Selvaganapathy and the others entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1995 and 1996 to commit a criminal misconduct and cheat the Government of India and the State government in the construction/erection of cremation sheds under the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY). It said they entrusted co-operative societies, including the Karungulam Cooperative Society, with the work on construction of 100 cremation sheds in 20 blocks of Nagapattinam district. This was done despite the fact that construction of sheds was not a work identified under the JRY and should not be given to co-operative societies. The work was executed in a substandard manner through sub-contractors and it did not conform to the specifications. Thus they caused wrongful loss of Rs.23 lakh. A. Arokiaraj, Special Officer, Karungulam Cooperative Society, who was also an accused, died during the course of the trial.

Resigns from Rajya Sabha:- The sitting DMK MP, T. M. Selvaganapathy, submitted his resignation from the Rajya Sabha, after a special CBI court in Chennai convicted him in the cremation shed scam. Mr. Selvaganapathy, who was Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in the AIADMK government from 1991-96 and later joined the DMK, told journalists here that he had faxed the letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman. But he would appeal against the verdict in the Madras High Court. Mr. Selvaganapathy, who has been made in charge of the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency by the DMK leadership, has been overseeing the party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections for the past one month.