High Court confirms acquittal of former Minister Selvaganapathy

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2018 00:00 IST



T.M. Selvaganapathy 

CBI had challenged the trial court verdict in ‘colour TV’ case

The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal preferred by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2009 challenging the acquittal of former Local Administration Minister T.M. Selvaganapathy from a case related to the purchase of colour television sets for panchayats in the State between 1993 and 1996. Mr Selvaganapathy, now a DMK functionary, was in the AIADMK then.

Justice G. Jayachandran dismissed the appeal on the ground that prosecution’s failure to marshal adequate evidence to prove charges of corruption had forced the trial court to acquit the accused. He refrained from interfering in any way with the verdict delivered by a Special Court for CBI cases here on January 23, 2009. “After perusal of the entire records and the submissions made by the counsels, this court finds plausible the reasons given by the trial court for acquitting the accused,” the judge said. He added that the statement of the approver in the case did not inspire the confidence of the court.