The Supreme Court will hear on May 14 a special leave petition against a Madras high court order directing a CBI probe into the alleged multi-crore gutka scam in which involvement of state health minister C. Vijaya Baskar and DGP T.K. Rajendran are suspected.
The high court acting on a writ petition filed by DMK MLA J. Anbazhagan had said the underground gutkka business is a crime against society and, therefore, a CBI probe is necessary. It all started on July 8, 2017, when the income tax department conducted raids at the godown, offices and residences of a pan masala and gutka manufacturer in Tamil Nadu, who was facing charges of evading tax to the tune of Rs 250 crore.