The Tamil Nadu government, in March this year, wrote to the Raj Bhavan seeking Governor R.N. Ravi’s approval to conduct a preliminary enquiry against S. Gowri, Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras, on suspected corruption charges, according to sources.
The government sought to conduct the probe under section 17(A)(1) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 over an allegation mentioned in a report of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption (DVAC). The letter dated, March 9, 2023, was addressed by then Higher Education Principal Secretary D. Karthikeyan to the Principal Secretary to the Governor.
In its communication to the Raj Bhavan, the State government said Mr. Gowri had also committed certain irregularities as the V-C and “as per section 11(1) of the University of Madras Act, 1923 (Tamil Nadu Act VII), the Governor - Chancellor is the authority competent to accord prior approval for conducting a Preliminary Enquiry against the Vice-Chancellor under section 17A(1) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.”
On Sunday (August 6, 2023), The Hindu reached out to the Raj Bhavan Secretariat seeking to know if the Governor had accorded sanction to conduct the enquiry, but did not receive a reply.
The State government had also also submitted a copy of the report from the DVAC for the purview of the Governor. The letter said the Additional Chief Secretary to Government/Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms (FAC) has stated that the DVAC said, during the course of collection of vigilance intelligence by its officer, certain information was collected against Mr. Gowri. The government therefore, proposed to conduct a preliminary enquiry to enquire into these allegations in the report.
“To proceed further, prior approval from the competent authority is necessary as mandated under Section 17A(1) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018,” and hence the request. The Tamil Nadu Vigilance Commission had requested the State government to take an appropriate decision regarding the grant of prior approval at the government level, as per Section 17A(1) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
The Hindu contacted the Higher Education Department on Monday, August 7, 2023, to find out the status of the issue, but did not receive any response.
