Chennai: The two IAS officers at the centre of the long-pending Rs 98.25-crore Chennai-Coimbatore corporation tender irregularities case, K.S. Kandasamy and K. Vijayakarthikeyan, are set to be prosecuted, with the Government of India having granted sanction for it this week. The two officers held critical administrative positions that gave them direct oversight of the work and tender processes.
It has been alleged that between 2014 and 2018—during Kandasamy’s tenure as Deputy Commissioner of the Works Department of Greater Chennai Corporation, and Vijayakarthikeyan’s tenure as Commissioner of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation—contracts were awarded in a manner that favoured certain contractors linked to AIADMK leader S.P. Velumani, who was the municipal administration minister at the time. Velumani served as municipal administration minister from 2014 to 2021.
The Madras High Court was informed Thursday by Additional Solicitor General A.R.L. Sundaresan that the Prime Minister’s Office has sanctioned the prosecution of both civil servants on 12 November.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh has directed Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to file the chargesheet against Velumani, the two IAS officers and other accused, and to report the details at the next hearing on 4 December.
The high court was hearing a contempt of court petition filed in 2025 by state-based anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam through its convenor Jayaram Venkatesan and counsel V. Suresh. The NGO alleged that the DVAC had failed to fully comply with earlier High Court directions to complete the investigation, and file a chargesheet in the long-pending case.
The contempt proceedings have been used by the high court as a monitoring tool to push the stalled process of obtaining prosecution sanctions, especially against the two IAS officers. After the sanction was granted, the judge kept the contempt petition pending solely to monitor further progress by DVAC on filing the chargesheet.
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The case
Arappor Iyakkam and DMK leader R.S. Bharathi, in September 2018, had first publicly levelled corruption allegations, and lodged complaints about large-scale favouritism in awarding civil contracts by Greater Chennai Corporation and Coimbatore Corporation. The preliminary enquiries were started in the case and a writ petition seeking registration of FIR continued till 2021.
The DVAC registered the FIR against Velumani, his associates, contractors, and officials on 9 August, 2021, under the then newly elected DMK government. The FIR was lodged under provisions of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, specifically sections pertaining to conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The High Court then quashed the FIR qua Velumani alone, with liberty to re-include him later. The investigations were completed around 2023 and early 2024, after which the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker granted sanction to prosecute Velumani.
After that, Arappor Iyakkam filed the contempt petition over continued delay in completing the process and filing a comprehensive chargesheet. In September this year, the high court fixed a two-month outer limit for the Centre to decide on the sanction to prosecute the IAS officers.
The two IAS officers, Kandasamy and Vijayakarthikeyan, have been alleged to be involved in favouring tenders to certain individuals that led to large-scale irregularities, amounting to Rs 98.25 crore, in the award of civil and road works contracts by the two corporations between 2014 and 2018.
The accused officers
Kandasamy is a 2009-batch Tamil Nadu cadre officer. He was serving as Deputy Commissioner (Works) in Chennai corporation between 8 December, 2014 and May 2017, when the alleged irregularities took place.
As Deputy Commissioner, he was responsible for planning, tendering, and execution of major civil works, including road contracts across the city.
His later postings included Tiruvannamalai District Collector until 2020, Special Officer in the Public Grievances Redressal Department, Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation.
Currently, he is serving as Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN), a position he took over in September this year.
Vijayakarthikeyan, a 2011-batch officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, served as Commissioner of Coimbatore corporation from November 2014 to February 2019. He was designated as Special Officer in 2016.
As the administrative head of the corporation, he was responsible for approving and overseeing tenders and contracts for infrastructure and road works.
The complaint against Velumani and the officers, filed by Arappor Iyakkam, alleged that the ‘irregularities’ and ‘favouritism’ in awarding these contracts in Coimbatore formed a key part of the larger scam.
After Coimbatore corporation, he was appointed the Assistant Collector in Erode, and later served as District Collector of Tiruppur during 2019-2021.
He also held the post of Secretary of Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission, and that of Joint Managing Director and Project Director of World Bank and ADB projects of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board. He currently heads the Fisheries Department as Director.
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