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The Tamil Nadu government, on Friday, May 16, told the Madras High court that the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by YouTuber Savukku Shankar seeking a CBI probe into an alleged misappropriation of Dalit welfare funds was politically motivated and intended for publicity. “This is not public interest but publicity interest litigation. Shankar is doing it for publicity and is trying to give a political colour to the issue,” Advocate General PS Raman,appearing for the state government, told the court.
A vacation bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan was hearing Shankar’s plea, in which he alleged large-scale corruption in two sanitation-related welfare schemes – the Union government’s National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) and the Tamil Nadu government’s Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme (AABCS).
Shankar claimed that Congress leader and Tamil Nadu MLA K Selvaperunthagai and others misappropriated funds by manipulating beneficiary lists and routing contracts to private companies with political links.
According to Shankar's petition, 133 ineligible persons, including lawyers and politically connected individuals, were selected as beneficiaries and allotted expensive sanitation vehicles. These were allegedly leased to Gen Green Logistics, a company operated by Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) director Ravikumar Narra and Selvaperunthagai’s nephew R Veeramani.
Justice Swaminathan questioned this link in court: “If it is true, then you are in trouble,” he told the AG. The court also considered whether Selvaperunthagai should be made a party to the case.
The court granted the Tamil Nadu government time till May 21 to submit relevant documents, including nearly 200 files related to the implementation of the schemes.
Additional Advocate General J Ravindran, appearing for the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), told the court that the project bypassed usual tender norms because similar collaborations with DICCI had already been executed successfully in other states, including Hyderabad.
He added that DICCI was only a coordinator and not the primary contractor. However, Shankar had submitted a December 16, 2024 press release in which Chief Minister MK Stalin had stated that DICCI was included in the scheme at the instance of Selvaperunthagai.
AG Raman refuted this, stating that DICCI was brought in on the recommendation of Safai Karamchari Andolan, a national body working towards the eradication of manual scavenging.
Raman also told the court that CBI cannot initiate a probe without High Court orders and that Shankar had not approached the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) before filing the petition.
“If the CBI has to probe, there must be some other case on the issue but there is no such case,” he said.
AAG Ravindran argued that the short notice to produce 200 documents was unreasonable, while also questioning the petitioner’s motives. “Corruption, we are also concerned about it, but this writ petition itself is of a corrupt kind,” he said.
In his petition, Shankar further alleged that after he exposed the scam on his YouTube channel, his home was vandalised, sewage was thrown inside, and his elderly mother was threatened by persons allegedly linked to Selvaperunthagai.
He contended that since Selvaperunthagai is politically influential and close to the ruling party, only a CBI probe can ensure a fair and impartial investigation.
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