A Bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued a notice to the State and other respondents in response to a plea from the ministers.
NEW DELHI: On Friday (6th Sept), the Supreme Court stayed a Madras High Court judgment that had reinstated corruption cases against Tamil Nadu Ministers KKSSR Ramachandran (Revenue and Disaster Management) and Thangam Thenarasu (Human Resource Management).
A Bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued a notice to the State and other respondents in response to a plea from the ministers.
The Court observed,
“The accused argue that the special judge must determine if there is a prima facie case based on the new supplementary report, yet the High Court has already directed the case to proceed.”
Tamil Nadu’s Advocate General PS Raman represented the State and indicated plans to appeal the High Court’s decision.
The Court instructed the respondents to submit their replies within four weeks and ordered,
“Issue notice, returnable in four weeks. Serve on standing counsel. Meanwhile, the operation of the impugned judgment is stayed.”
On August 7, the Madras High Court overturned two special court orders that had previously discharged Ramachandran, Thenarasu, and their spouses from corruption charges. The High Court’s single-judge, Justice Anand Venkatesh, reinstated the disproportionate assets cases and instructed the trial court to frame charges against the accused.
Justice Venkatesh had, on August 23 of the previous year, initiated suo motu criminal revision proceedings after observing that both the prosecution and the accused engaged in a “perfect game.”
Background
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) first filed a case against Ramachandran, his wife, and a friend under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) on December 20, 2011. The DVAC alleged that they held Rs 44.59 lakh in assets disproportionate to their known income sources from April 1, 2006, to March 31, 2010.
In July of this year, Sessions Judge V Thilaham accepted the DVAC’s closure report, which concluded that the family’s excess savings amounted to Rs 1.49 lakh, not the Rs 44.59 lakh initially claimed.
Similarly, the DVAC had filed a case against Thennarasu and his wife, T Manimegalai, on February 14, 2012, alleging they possessed Rs 74.58 lakh in disproportionate assets between May 15, 2006, and March 31, 2010. On December 12, 2022, Principal Sessions Judge M Christopher accepted a closure report from the DVAC and discharged the couple from the case.
Following this, the High Court initiated suo motu criminal revision proceedings and overturned the discharge order.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented Thangam Thennarasu, while Senior Advocate AM Singhvi represented his wife. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for KKSSR Ramachandran, with Senior Advocate S Muralidhar representing Ramachandran’s wife. Senior Advocates Sidharth Luthra and Vikram Chaudhary also represented the accused. Advocate General PS Raman appeared on behalf of the State of Tamil Nadu.
Case Title: Thangam Thennarasu v State of Tamil Nadu and ors
