The Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a recent order by the Madras High Court to reopen a graft case against Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy and his wife in a corruption case.
The case involving the allegations of irregularities in the transfer of the trial, was reopened by Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud praised Tamil Nadu High Court Judge Justice N Anand Venkatesh for taking suo motu notice of the matter.
“Thank God, we have judges like Justice Venkatesh. Look at the conduct. The Chief Justice transfers the trial from one district to another. Where is the power of the Chief Justice to transfer the trial from one district judge to another on the administrative side? It has to be judicial order. The HC single judge is right in examining this,” the bench said.
What is the Matter?
Justice N Anand Venkatesh decided to examine the validity of judgement after the peculiar way in which the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court transferred the case to the trial judge in Vellore in July last year and the unusual speed at which the trial judge delivered the judgement on the two-decade old case on June 30 this year, two days before her retirement.
Justice Venkatesh invoked power under Section 397 of the Criminal Procedure Code and called for trial court records and ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu government and posted further hearing of the case to September 7, 2023.
The decision was then challenged by retired trial judge N Vasathaleela who said she had an unblemished career record.
What is the Case Against K Ponmudy?
The disproportionate assets case against Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy and his wife P Visalatchi dates back to 2002, when the AIADMK had come to power. The prosecution case was that Ponmudy had amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 1.4 crore in his name and that of his wife and friends, disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was a minister in the DMK cabinet between 1996 and 2001.
Ponmudy was recently acquitted in a land grab case by a city court here. He is also under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining.
However, the duo was acquitted on June 28, 2023, after the two-decade old case which has been lingering on for years, started to move with great alacrity. But the Madras High Court took a suo moto decision to reexamine the acquittal on August 10, 2023.
The judge also initiated revision of legal proceedings against two other DMK ministers, Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran and Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, in similar cases, according to India Today.
The Tamil Nadu minister and his wife then challenged the Madras High Court’s order in the Supreme Court. The matter came before the apex court on Monday and the bench led by CJI Chandrachud backed the Madras High Court judge’s decision to initiate the criminal revision case.
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