A week after the Madras High Court ordered the suspension the Commission of Inquiry headed by retired judge R. Regupathi that was probing alleged irregularities in the construction of the new Secretariat complex, the latter has submitted his resignation to the Chief Secretary.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Regupathi alleged that the delay in the probe was due to the “administrative lethargy of the Registry of the Madras High Court.”
The Commission, constituted by then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in June 2011, was inquiring into alleged irregularities in the construction in the Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex in Omandurar Government Estate here. The complex was constructed during the erstwhile DMK regime between 2006 and 2011.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Regupathi said the August 3 order of the High Court gave an impression as if the delay was intentional. In his eight-page letter to the Chief Secretary dated August 13, he said he was resigning with retrospective effect, from August 10.
‘Unwarranted remarks’
Referring to the observations of Justice S.M. Subramaniam in his order on August 3 this year, Mr. Regupathi said: “Such odious and belittling comments against former High Court and Supreme Court judges were made as if they are running behind certain assignments after retirement and this has caused great embarrassment not only to the Commissions presently established by the government but also to the retired judges in general.”
Even before hearing the arguments of the counsel “several unwarranted oral comments were made in the court as if there is an intentional delay” by all Commissions of Inquiry in completing the assignments and as if public money was being wasted for establishments of Commissions, the retired judge said.
Though he understood that the work load of the High Court could be a reason behind the delay in the listing of the case for hearing, “passing unwarranted comments against the retired judges functioning as Commissions of Inquiry is highly reprehensible and erroneous and that has sharply damaged the reputation of all the Commissions of Inquiry,” he claimed.
Recalling his submission of report after a probe into the collapse of a multi-storeyed building in Moulivakkam to then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa within 45 days, Mr. Regupathi said his Commission had been diligent in speedy accomplishment of the task.