ED writes to Tamil Nadu govt linking minister Nehru to Rs 366-cr transfer-posting 'bribery' racket
Chennai/New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has shared fresh inputs regarding an alleged Rs 366 crore worth money laundering and corruption ring in the transfer and appointments of officials and engineers in Tamil Nadu's Department of Municipal Administration Urban and Water Supply, officials said on Tuesday.
The federal probe agency's Chennai zonal office has sent a letter in this context to state chief secretary and the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) seeking registration of a police FIR against minister K N Nehru and some others linked to him.
The ED had also written two separate letters to the state government authorities in October and December last year claiming "wide spread" corruption in the department's tenders and recruitments and linked Nehru to these charges.
The minister had then defended himself, saying he was being continuously targeted by the ED in a bid to defame him and said that he would legally face the charges.
Nehru had condemned the ED and alleged that it joined the ranks of the opposition parties that cannot tolerate the achievements of the DMK and hence was "continuously targeting" to "defame" him.
Officials said the alleged corruption instances in the municipal administration urban and water supply department's transfer and posting came to the notice of the ED in April 2025 during searches in a bank loan "fraud" case where relatives and purported associates of Nehru were covered.
The said probe was initiated by the ED on the basis of a CBI FIR which was later quashed and the ED case fell through as the predicate offence was closed. The accused in the bank "fraud" case repaid the loan through a one-time settlement, as per officials.
The ED, hence, utilised its powers available under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to share these inputs and "evidence" with the state government and police so that they book a criminal case, which in turn, can become its foundation to file a PMLA case.
The said PMLA provision empowers ED to share information and evidence regarding an offence with the police or a designated law enforcement agency.
In its latest communication, the ED informed the Tamil Nadu government that it has recovered photos, WhatsApp chats and documents which show "many" instances of bribes being collected for the transfer and posting of government officers and engineers in the municipal administration urban and water supply department.
It claimed alleged bribe amounts ranging from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 1 crore, depending on a case-to-case basis, was being transacted in the case of about 340 the municipal administration urban and water supply department officials. The agency alleged the data shared by it in the relevant communication was of a "limited" period and that this claimed bribery ring was wider.
The agency said the bribe funds of Rs 365.87 crore were utilised in real estate, investments in other properties, including foreign assets, gold bullion and for luxury expenditure, including liquor.
The agency stated in the letter that filing of a police FIR on these charges made by the ED was essential as laid down by the Supreme Court in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case of 2022.
"The Supreme Court has also held that where FIR is not registered, appropriate remedy as may be permissible in law, to ensure that the culprits do not go unpunished and proceeds of crime are secured and dealt with as per the dispensation provided in PMLA, may be taken by ED," the agency said.
The ED, in 2025, had shared two such communications with the TN government authorities claiming irregularities and corruption in the municipal administration urban and water supply department.
The first was linked to an alleged recruitment scam in the said department as it claimed that certain public servants and politicians were involved while the second pointed to a Rs 1,020 crore corruption in the tenders and contracts awarded by the municipal administration urban and water supply department.
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Modi wants to do away with MGNREGA: Rahul in Raebareli
Raebareli (UP) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday of seeking to centralise power and weakening welfare safeguards for the poor, alleging that the MGNREGA has been undermined and that Modi wants to do away with it.
Addressing party workers during a visit to Raebareli, his parliamentary constituency, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said the BJP-led Centre has "insulted" Mahatma Gandhi by replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with another law and, more importantly, withdrawing the security it provided to the marginalised.
He termed the move an attack on the roots of democracy.
Parliament on December 18, 2025, passed the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, replacing the 20-year-old UPA-era MGNREGA and guaranteeing 125 days of rural wage employment every year.
The opposition had protested the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the new law and accused the Centre of putting the financial burden on states.
"The Congress is running a nationwide movement to protect the MGNREGA. We stand with labourers and are committed to protecting their rights," Gandhi said.
He alleged that Modi wants the country's wealth to be concentrated in the hands of industrialists like Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.
"On one hand, we are protecting the people, while on the other, Narendra Modi is diverting the country's wealth to a select few," he said.
The former Congress chief said the MGNREGA was introduced by the UPA government with the objective that no worker in the country should be forced to work for wages lower than the rates fixed under the programme.
He stressed that the scheme should not be run from offices in Delhi, Lucknow or by officials, but should be implemented at the panchayat level, with clear accountability of the village head.
"Financial decisions related to the MGNREGA should rest with the pradhans," Gandhi said.
He said Modi claimed in Parliament a few years ago that the MGNREGA did not benefit anyone and attempted to dismantle the scheme.
The Congress leader alleged that the prime minister wants to do away with the scheme now, so that the funds meant for workers are diverted to industrialists, such as "Adani and Ambani".
"The money that goes to labourers should not end up with big corporate houses," he said.
Gandhi pointed out that under the VB-G RAM G Act, the states will have to contribute 40 per cent of the funding.
He alleged that BJP-ruled states would not provide their share.
Gandhi reiterated that the MGNREGA is a panchayat-based programme and claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to dismantle a scheme that has protected poor workers.
He also accused the BJP of insulting Mahatma Gandhi and said the biggest issue is that the rights of poor labourers are being taken away.
The Congress leader said his party is organising programmes across the country in protest against this move of the BJP-led Centre.
Calling it a fight to protect the Constitution, he alleged that Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) want India to return to the pre-Independence situation, where people's land could be taken away and handed over to large corporate houses.
The Congress launched the "MGNREGA Bachao Sangram", a nationwide campaign demanding the restoration of the earlier law, on January 10. The campaign will be run till February 25.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi inaugurated a cricket tournament in Raebareli. The Congress leader, who was on a two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency, also met office-bearers and workers of the party.
