Cash-for-jobs scam in K.N. Nehru’s dept.: AIADMK MP files contempt plea against DVAC

AIADMK Rajya Sabha member I.S. Inbadurai on Thursday (February 26, 2026) filed a contempt of court petition against the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (V&AC) A.T. Durai Kumar (in-charge) for not having filed an FIR in connection with the alleged cash-for-jobs scam in Minister K.N. Nehru’s Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department.

Earlier in the day, the MP’s counsel made an oral mention before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan that the court, on February 20, 2026, ordered the registration of the FIR forthwith but the DVAC had not done so even after six days. The Chief Justice said the matter would be heard if an appropriate petition gets filed in the court.

Subsequently, the MP filed a contempt petition against the DVAC Director (in-charge) accusing him of having wilfully disobeyed the court orders. In an affidavit filed in support of his contempt plea, Mr. Inbadurai said that the scam was of very serious nature, in which bribe amounts ranging from ₹25 lakh to ₹35 lakh had been obtained from candidates to fill up 2,538 posts of Assistant Engineers, Junior Engineers, and so on.

He said that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had unearthed credible materials to suspect that the money was obtained through hawala transactions and thereafter brought into the banking system. Those materials had been collected during a search-and-seizure operation carried out by the ED at the residences of the Minister’s brothers N. Ravichandran, K.N. Manivannan, and two other associates.

After being convinced of the gravity of the charge, the High Court on February 20, 2026, expressed displeasure over the DVAC having conducted a preliminary inquiry, without registering an FIR, and ordered that the FIR must be registered forthwith since the prima facie materials regarding the offence had been shared by none other than a Central agency tasked with the responsibility of probing money laundering cases.

Despite the court order, the DVAC had not registered the FIR. Hence, the petitioner claimed to have submitted a representation to the DVAC on February 25, 2026, impressing upon the need to comply with the direction forthwith. There was no action even thereafter, and the petitioner complained and urged the court to punish the IPS officer holding the post of Director of V&AC.