Walkie-talkie case PIL against DGP dismissed

CHENNAI: A PIL seeking action against Director-General of Police TK Rajendran for alleged irregularities in the purchase of walkie-talkie sets for police, was dismissed by the first bench of the Madras High Court on Friday. “We are unable to appreciate how a social worker, who claims to be a post-graduate with no kind of technical education can possibly acknowledge which kind of walkie-talkie is easier to operate, more suitable and whether the price of `47,650 is fair or not. Significantly, there is no reference to any other comparative price,” a bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose observed.

In his PIL, R Senthil Murugan, a social worker of Madurai and a post-graduate in history, sought to take action against the DGP for alleged irregularities in the purchase of walkie-talkies. He said the Home secretary Niranjan Mardi, in his letter to the DGP, had raised a set of 11 queries in connection with the tender notification issued for walkie-talkie purchase. He also referred to the tender granted to Motorola Solutions for `83.45 crores.

The petitioner submitted that as per the APCO scheme, 10,000 sets have to be procured and the sum allotted for the purchase of the same by the government was only `47.56 crores for 2017-18. But Motorola, which quoted a higher sum of `83.45 crore, was allotted the tender. Dismissing the plea, the bench said there can be no doubt that citizens have a right to prevent wastage of public money and to ensure that the money of tax-payers is properly spent. However, vague allegations based on hearsay, cannot be entertained, it said.