Chennai: DMK ministers Thangam Thennarasu and KKSSR Ramachandran are under the scanner of the Madras High Court for the manner in which they were given clean chit in cases of disproportionate assets.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh “smelt a rat” in the manner in which the special court acquitted the two ministers. “On examining the records, this court is of the considered opinion that something is very rotten in the special court for MP/MLA cases at Srivilliputhur,” he said, quoting Hamlet.
Justice Venkatesh further noted that given the “illegalities”, he was exercising revisional powers suo motu under Article 227 of the Constitution and Sections 397/401 of CrPC to revisit the cases.
While the Srivilliputhur special court for MP/MLA cases acquitted finance minister Thangam Thennarasu and his wife in December 2022, it cleared the names of revenue minister Ramachandran, his wife and a friend in July.
The observations came two weeks after the high court had suo motto ordered revision of the acquittal of higher education minister K. Ponmudy and his wife in a disproportionate assets case.
The cases against Ponmudy, Ramachandran and Thenarasu were lodged in 2002, 2011 and 2012 during the AIADMK rule.
The special court order suffered from “grave illegality which has resulted in gross miscarriage of justice”, the HC judge said, about the cases of Ramachandran and Thenarasu.
In Ponmudy’s case, the judge had said that the speedy proceeding was “a shocking and calculated attempt to manipulate and subvert the criminal justice system.” “In cases of this nature, it is the duty of the High Court to interfere and prevent miscarriage of justice,” he asserted.
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Ramachandran case
In the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had stated that Ramachandran, his wife R Adhilakshmi and friend K.S.P. Shanmugamoorthy amassed disproportionate wealth worth Rs 44.59 lakh during his stint in the DMK cabinet from 2006 to 2011.
Investigation was completed in eight months, and a charge sheet was filed against the trio. Subsequently, the case was transferred from the special court for PCA cases in Madurai to the Srivilliputtur Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in 2014 and later to the Principal Sessions Court in 2019.
The first investigating officer examined 117 witnesses and collected 116 documents before filing a final report in 2012. Seven years on, the trio filed individual petitions seeking discharge from the case.
Justice Venkatesh noted that the special court dragged the hearing till the assembly election in May 2021.
In September 2021, another intimation was submitted seeking further probe after the accused introduced new facts and documents. It was stated that these materials were not probed initially.
Later, the principal sessions judge accepted the closure report submitted in October 2022 that gave a clean chit to the trio. The judge then discharged all three persons from the case on 20 July.
On the political front, the ruling DMK and its rival AIADMK traded charges against each other. “…remarks indicate the work of DVAC post 2021 has changed. He sees a similar pattern in Thennarasu and Ramachandran’s acquittal. If DMK is having the muscle power to arm twist the judiciary. then it doesn’t send a positive signal. These are not ordinary remarks and should not be taken lightly,” AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathayan said.
But DMK spokesperson A. Saravanan contended the order was “erroneous”. “It is the same way that AIADMK leaders like O. Panneerselvam, Natham Vishwanathan and Valarmathi were acquitted by trial courts. If those were right, these (rulings) were also right,” he added.
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Thenarasu case
The DMK leader’s case is with regard to the 2006-2010 period when he was the education minister. He and his wife T. Manimegalai were accused of amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 74.58 lakh.
After examining 93 witnesses and collecting 101 documents, the DVAC filed a PCA case in the Madurai court in 2012. Like in the case of Ramachandran, this case was transferred to Srivilliputhur CJM in 2014 and later to the principal sessions court in April 2019.
Drawing step-by-step similarities, Justice Venkatesh noted that the couple filed a discharge petition, which was heard for over a year. Thenarasu, in his discharge petition before the special court, alleged that the IO had not properly accounted for income sources.
The DVAC sought investigation and gave a clean chit in the final report. The principal sessions judge agreed with the findings and acquitted the couple, the HC said.
“When investigation officers in corruption cases start dancing to the lullabies of the politicians in power, the concept of fair and impartial investigation would be reduced to a mere charade. This is precisely what has happened in this case,” Justice Venkatesh noted.
‘Report seemingly crafted to exonerate accused’
The judge criticised the special court in both the cases for accepting the final report, saying they should have “ascertained the legality of the closure report”. The final closure report had “effectively wiped out the earlier findings”, he added.
The special court accepted reports which were “seemingly crafted to exonerate the accused”, Justice Venkatesh said.
Further, the HC found that the court resorted to a curious judicial technique, “where the judge writes something which nobody, including the judge writing it, can comprehend…since the order dated 23.10.2021 is, on the face of it, utterly incomprehensible”.
It seemed apparent that upon change of power in 2021, “the identities of the accused and the prosecution were obliterated as all the players in the game suddenly found themselves belonging to the same team,” Justice Venkatesh said.
The special court seemingly decided that the wisest course was to get itself out hit wicket, he said.
“This, therefore, is yet another instance of a criminal trial being derailed by the active design of those at the helm of political power. If this trend goes unchecked, special courts meant for MP/MLA trials will become a playground for all sorts of condemnable practices which are handcrafted and orchestrated to subvert and derail the criminal justice system.”
Earlier, on 10 August, the Madras HC noted that the Vellore principal district judge — who was set to retire on 30 June — had fast tracked the proceedings by examining defence witnesses on 6 June.
After getting the accused’s written submissions on 23 June, the “Vellore judge marshalled the evidence of 172 prosecution witnesses and 381 documents and managed to deliver a 226-page testament/judgment acquitting all the accused on 28 June,” it said.
“This unique feat of industry can find few parallels, and it may well be said is a feat that even judicial mortals in constitutional courts can only dream of.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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