Well-known Bharatanatyam dancer and former Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairperson Leela Samson has come under the scanner of the CBI for the “unfruitful expenditure” of Rs 62.20 lakh in the Rs 7.02-crore renovation project of Koothambalam auditorium of Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai.
The CBI registered a case on Thursday on a complaint by the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Ministry of Culture, who claimed that the work orders were awarded at a higher rate through the consultant architect Centre for Architectural Research and Design (CARD) without following the General Financial Rules, 2005.
Besides Padma Shri winner Samson, who was also a former chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification, others named in the FIR were Kalakshetra Chief Accounts Officer TS Murthi, Accounts Officer S Ramachandran, Engineering officer V Srinivasan and Ravi Neelakantan, proprietor of CARD and Chennai Engineers.