The Madras High Court on Wednesday (August 7) set aside trial court orders discharging Tamil Nadu Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran and Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu from disproportionate assets cases.
The court directed the lower court to frame charges against them and proceed in accordance with the law.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh allowed the writ petition initiated by him against the orders of a Special Court in Viridhunagar district, which had discharged Ramachandran and Thenarasu from the disproportionate wealth cases. Consequently, the ministers will now face trial in the cases registered against them by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption.
Restoring the cases to the Special Court’s docket, the judge stated that since prima facie materials were available, charges should be framed against the accused and the proceedings should continue in accordance with the law. The judge directed Ramachandran to appear before the Special Court on September 9 and Thangam Thenarasu on September 11.
Furthermore, the judge instructed the Special Court to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis and complete it as expeditiously as possible. Justice Anand Venkatesh had invoked his powers under section 397 Cr.P.C. last year to initiate, on his own, the criminal revision cases against the two senior DMK leaders.
AS per the prosecution, Ramachandran had amassed wealth in his name, his wife P Visalatchi’s name, and his friend K S P Shanmugamoorthy’s name, disproportionate to his known sources of income during his tenure as the Minister for Health and Backward Classes between 2006 and 2011 under the previous DMK regime.
The prosecution’s case against Thangam Thenarasu was that he accumulated assets in his name and his wife T Manimegalai’s name, disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was the Minister for School Education between 2006 and 2011.
