Tainted DTCP official retires

Coimbatore: The district town and country planning office allowed C Mathivanan, the joint director at the office, to retire after he attained superannuation on Thursday. He faces a disciplinary inquiry for allegedly burning official documents in his possession in 2019.
In a statement issued by director of Town and Country Planning E Saravanavelraj, it was mentioned that disciplinary proceedings pending against Mathivanan shall continue under rule 9 of Tamil Nadu pension rules, 1978. “An inquiry initiated against Mathivanan is yet to be concluded. Retirement benefits would be handed over to him only after charges against were cleared.”
The inquiry was initiated against the official based on a complaint from city-based activist S P Thiyagarajan. He alleged that Mathivanan, when he was a regional deputy director, had predated approvals for layouts in Tirupur district to make them appear that they were signed months ago. Thiyagarajan further alleged that when a separate office was created for Tirupur and officials were appointed, instead of handing over approval documents to the new office, Mathivanan burnt them.
Thiyagarajan was able to take photographs of half-burnt documents and send them to offices of the director of town and country planning and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption. Subsequently, senior officials visited the city and started the inquiry.