Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Friday, June 5, registered a First Information Report (FIR) against former Minister KN Nehru and several others in connection with an alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
Nehru, the Municipal Administration Minister during the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) administration, had been the subject of investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged recruitment scam in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department
The development was disclosed before the First Division Bench of the Madras High Court, comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, during an urgent hearing on Friday.
Advocate General Vijay Narayan informed the court that the DVAC had registered the FIR after obtaining his legal opinion. The case has been filed based on information provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had earlier alleged large-scale irregularities in recruitment to various posts in the MAWS department.
The FIR names KN Nehru, his brothers N Ravichandran and KN Manivannan, along with D Ramesh, T Selvamani, Kavi Prasad, IAS officer P Ponniah, Ratesh and other unidentified persons.
However, shortly after being informed of the FIR, the High Court ordered that no further action be taken in the case until June 23, when related review petitions and a contempt petition are scheduled to be heard.
Senior counsel PH Arvindh Pandian, appearing for Nehru, argued that the DVAC’s move violated an earlier understanding that the matter would not be precipitated until the court took up the pending petitions. He pointed out that the previous Advocate General had assured the court that no coercive steps would be taken before the next hearing.
The Bench questioned how the FIR had been registered despite that assurance. In response, Vijay Narayan said the undertaking given by the previous Advocate General was not reflected in the records available to him when he examined the case. He maintained that the High Court had, on February 20, 2026, directed the DVAC to register an FIR “forthwith” and that there was no legal impediment to complying with that order.
Narayan further informed the court that the present Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government had decided to withdraw the review petition filed by the previous DMK government against the February order directing registration of the FIR.
After hearing both sides, the Bench observed that since the matter was already listed for final hearing on June 23, no prejudice would be caused to the State by keeping further proceedings in abeyance until then. It subsequently stayed all further action arising from the FIR.
The case stems from allegations made by the Enforcement Directorate following searches conducted in April 2025 at premises linked to Nehru. According to the ED, documents recovered during those raids pointed to a “deep-rooted” corruption network involving recruitments to 2,538 posts in the MAWS department, including assistant engineers, junior engineers, town planning officers and sanitary inspectors.
The central agency alleged that bribes ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh were collected for at least 150 appointments and that recruitment examinations were manipulated to favour selected candidates. Appointment orders for the recruits were issued during the tenure of the previous DMK government.