On Monday, 2 November, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by former Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK leader K.N. Nehru, challenging a Madras High Court order that directed the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him in a ₹634-crore cash-for-jobs scam. A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu declined to interfere with the High Court’s 20 February judgment and its subsequent 26 October order, stating there was no ground to do so.
The case centres on the fact that bribes were collected from candidates in exchange for government jobs in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department during Nehru’s tenure as Minister between 2021 and 2026. The scandal involves recruitment to 2,538 government posts.
The proceedings were initiated after AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP I.S. Inbadurai filed a petition in the Madras High Court, saying that the State police had failed to act on information forwarded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the scam. The ED had flagged the irregularities to the State police in October 2025.
On 20 February 2026, based on the material shared by the ED. Madras High Court directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a case. Nehru and then DMK-led state government subsequently filed a review petition, arguing that the direction was issued without hearing him, despite the concerns about his tenure, and that it violated the principles of natural justice. The High Court dismissed this review petition on 26 October.
In its order dismissing the review, the Madras High Court noted that the original order was reserved on 4 February 2026 and pronounced on 20 February, leaving a gap of more than two weeks. It observed that Nehru could have moved an application during that 16-day window after receiving notice, but made no such attempt.
The High Court further clarified that its direction was limited to the registration of a case and an investigation, and that it had not decided anyone’s guilt at that stage. It stated that the observations recorded the Enforcement Directorate’s case, not the court’s conclusions, and that whether the material would stand scrutiny was a matter for the investigation and, subsequently, a criminal court to decide.
In June 2026, the new State government informed the High Court that the DVAC had registered an FIR and that it intended to withdraw the review petition filed by its predecessor. Nehru opposed this move, contending that a change in the governing political party could not justify abandoning an earlier legal stand.
With the Supreme Court’s dismissal of Nehru’s plea, the Madras High Court’s direction for the registration of the case and an investigation into the cash-for-jobs scam remains in place. The development leaves the former Minister to face the ongoing investigation.
