Madurai prison graft case: Madras HC gives govt 4 months to complete probe

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (September 2) directed the Tamil Nadu government to constitute a special investigation team headed by a senior IPS officer to complete the probe into large-scale corruption at Madurai Central Prison and file a final report before the competent criminal court within four months. Failure to do so, the court said, would force it to consider transferring the investigation to another agency.

A Division Bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman passed the order filed by M Gokila of Puducherry, wife of convicted prisoner Murugaiyan, who is confined in Central Prison-I, Puzhal. The original prayer sought 60 days’ annual remission for 2020, 2021 and 2023 under Tamil Nadu Prisons Rules, 1983, and payment of four months’ unpaid wages.

From wages plea to graft watch

What began as a wages-and-remission petition in late 2024 became a running monitor of prison-department corruption after advocate P Pugalenthi, appearing for the petitioner, placed before the court allegations of fabricated accounts, suppressed prisoner wages, and collusion between officials and private traders.

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Prisoners in Tamil Nadu are engaged in manufacturing stationery, bandage cloth and other articles supplied to government departments on a cost-recovery basis. Wages for such work are a statutory entitlement. Gokila told the court that her husband, employed as a school assistant in Puzhal prison, used to receive about Rs 2,850 a month, but his payments had stopped for four months. Similar complaints existed across other prisons too.

Systematic irregularities

During hearings in December 2024 and January 2025, the Bench was shown audit findings and Vigilance documents pointing to systematic irregularities. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered a case in Madurai on December 12, 2024, for offences including criminal conspiracy, forgery, using forged documents, public servant framing incorrect record, criminal breach of trust, and corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Eleven persons were named, including three serving or former Madurai Central prison officials: Then prison superintendent M Urmila, jailor S Vasantha Kannan, and administrative officer M Thiagarajan. The other eight were private suppliers. The FIR alleged that between 2019 and 2021, they created false purchase and supply records for stationery items and misappropriated about Rs 1.63 crore.

Skeletons out of the closet

Court records and subsequent reports also referred to non-supply of large quantities of bandage cloth produced by prisoners, with an estimated additional loss of around Rs 4 crore, and earlier CAG observations of unwarranted expenditure running into several crores on raw materials and wages. Initial media and counsel references spoke of even larger figures; the criminal case centres on the stationery transactions of 2019–21, a period that overlaps the previous AIADMK government.

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On January 8, 2025, the same Bench recorded that large-scale illegalities and misappropriation of government funds had been committed by prison authorities in connivance with private traders, as impleaded by the DVAC. The court directed stringent action, including consideration of suspension. The three aforementioned officials were suspended in March 2025. Departmental charges under the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules were also initiated.

Probe incomplete

However, more than 20 months after the FIR, the investigation remains incomplete. Additional Public Prosecutor CR Malarvannan submitted that DVAC required more time for a detailed inquiry and that the government was prepared to form a special team. The Bench noted that no progress report had been filed by DVAC and that one accused officer of Assistant Superintendent of Police rank had been reinstated after another writ petition directed disposal of a representation.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that further delay would allow the accused persons to escape the clutches of law. The judges observed that prolonged investigation in a case of this seriousness was unacceptable.

Petitioner free to reopen matter if not satisfied

The respondents, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), the Director General of Prisons, and the Superintendent of Puzhal prison, were directed to constitute a special team headed by a senior IPS officer. The team must complete the investigation in all respects and file the final report within four months of receipt of the order. Departmental disciplinary proceedings shall continue simultaneously; pendency of the criminal case is not a bar.

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In the event of failure, the court said it would consider transferring the investigation. The petitioner was given the liberty to reopen the matter if the directions are not complied with.