KN Nehru challenges Madras High Court order directing an FIR on ED material, and the grievance at the heart of it, as reflected in his review, is that he was never heard before the direction was given.
New Delhi: A special leave petition in the Supreme Court by former Tamil Nadu Minister KN Nehru takes aim at the Madras High Court’s direction to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the basis of material supplied by the Enforcement Directorate. It also challenges the High Court’s October 26, 2026 order dismissing his review of that direction [Thiru KN Nehru v. IS Inbadurai].
The petition was filed on October 26, 2026 and is registered as Diary No. 67319/2026. No Bench has taken it up yet, and the State has filed a caveat. The allegations against Nehru are untested, no court has made any finding on them, and he is presumed innocent.
Heard or not heard
As reflected in his review, Nehru’s case is that an order affecting him was passed in proceedings in which he was not a party and was not heard.
The petitioners in the High Court maintained that the ED material disclosed a cognisable offence that the police were bound to investigate. The Supreme Court has not yet examined either position, and the grounds of the special leave petition beyond the hearing point have not been made public.
From an ED letter to a dismissed review
It began in October 2025, when the Enforcement Directorate wrote to the Tamil Nadu police chief alleging that Nehru and associates were involved in a cash-for-jobs scam in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply department, and asked the police to act under the Prevention of Corruption Act. No action followed. Writ petitions by Athinarayanan and AIADMK Rajya Sabha member IS Inbadurai then sought a direction to DVAC to register a case on the ED information.
The High Court allowed those petitions in February 2026 and directed registration of an FIR. The State’s review petition was later withdrawn after a change of government. Nehru filed a separate review, contending that the order had been passed without hearing him, and the High Court dismissed it on October 26, 2026. It held that a direction to register an FIR does not determine guilt and that a prior hearing of the potential accused is not necessary.
What happens next
Only once the petition is listed will the matter move. Until then, the High Court’s direction to register the FIR stands, and the Supreme Court has not stayed it.
Case Title: Thiru KN Nehru v. IS Inbadurai [Diary No. 67319/2026]
Forum: Supreme Court of India (special leave petition against Madras High Court orders)
Date of filing: October 26, 2026