TANGEDCO's vigilance wing kept a Rs 397 crore complaint pending for three years, then closed it in four days the moment the Madras High Court started final hearings on it. The court called the timing 'highly suspicious' and gave the file to the CBI.
Anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam alleged that 10 tenders floated by TANGEDCO between 2021 and 2023 — for roughly 45,800 distribution transformers worth Rs 1,183 crore — were rigged with identical price bids by 25 to 37 bidders quoting the same numbers across at least seven tenders. The estimated loss to the exchequer: Rs 397 crore. Former Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji of the DMK held the portfolio at the time. The complaint had been pending with Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption since 2023. On April 1, 2026 Arappor Iyakkam participated in the DVAC enquiry; on April 2 it submitted documents while the matter was being heard by the Madras High Court; on April 4 the DVAC's preliminary enquiry concluded that there was no material to substantiate the allegations and dropped the case. On April 29, 2026, a bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan flagged the 'abrupt haste' to close a three-year-old file in four days, ordered a fresh CBI investigation, and described the conduct of the state vigilance wing as a cover-up to shield political figures. Balaji's defence: 'There was no loss to the government or to the electricity board.'