Madras HC to begin final hearing on suo motu revision against Ponmudy’s acquittal on Apr. 7

Madras HC to begin final hearing on suo motu revision against Ponmudy’s acquittal on Apr. 7

K. Ponmudy

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI  04.02.2025

The Madras High Court on Monday decided to commence on April 7 the final hearing on a suo motu revision petition taken up by it in August 2023 against the acquittal of Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy, his wife P. Visalatchi, and another individual in a disproportionate assets case registered against them in 2002.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh fixed the date of the final hearing after ascertaining the convenience of Advocate-General P.S. Raman, representing the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), as well as the senior counsel to be engaged by the Minister and two others. He said the hearing would take place between April 7 and 17.

This was the first of the six suo motu revision petitions that Justice Venkatesh had taken up in 2023 against the discharge/acquittal of Mr. Ponmudy and Ministers I. Periyasamy, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, Thangam Thennarasu, former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, and former AIADMK Minister B. Valarmathi in different cases.

‘Bid to subvert system’

The judge had taken up the suo motu revision against Mr. Ponmudy after observing that the events leading to the acquittal order passed by the Vellore principal district and sessions court on June 28, 2023, revealed “a shocking and calculated attempt to manipulate and subvert the criminal justice system”.

The charge levelled by the DVAC against the Minister was that he had amassed wealth during his tenure as Transport Minister between 1996 and 2001. The prosecuting agency had booked not only the Minister and his wife but also his mother-in-law and two friends as the co-accused in the case.

In 2004, a Chief Judicial Magistrate in Villupuram discharged all the accused from the case, and the High Court, too, confirmed the discharge order in 2006. However, following an appeal by the State, the Supreme Court reversed the discharge orders and ordered the conduct of the trial.

The Minister’s mother-in-law and one of the two friends died before the framing of charges in 2015 and hence, the trial court proceeded only against the three surviving accused. The trial was conducted before the principal district court, which had been designated as a special court for Prevention of Corruption Act cases.

On April 26, 2022, the Principal District Judge wrote a letter to the High Court, requesting permission for conducting special sittings on four holidays in May 2022 to conduct the trial since the Supreme Court had insisted upon expeditious disposal.

The request was considered and rejected by the High Court on its administrative side only on June 7, 2022, long after the expiry of the dates when the district judge had planned to conduct the proceedings.

“The official memorandum not only communicates the refusal of permission but also shockingly injuncts the Principal District Judge, Villupuram, from exercising her judicial powers over the case by directing that the case should not be taken up until further orders,” Justice Venkatesh wrote in his interim order in August 2023.

(For the full report, visit https://bit.ly/4aHiZs0).