The Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu Government to give a clear undertaking that no criminal case against any current minister or MLA was dropped without completing the probe. A specific affidavit must be filed within two weeks.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court instructed the Tamil Nadu government to provide a guarantee that no sitting or former minister or legislator from the DMK party is facing a case where prosecution sanctions were previously granted but later withdrawn, resulting in the dropping of the charges.
A bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N. Kotiswar Singh requested the state to submit an affidavit regarding a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that seeks to transfer ongoing trials against current ministers out of Tamil Nadu.
The bench stated,
“The Senior Additional Advocate General seeks and is granted two weeks to file a specific affidavit that there is no case against any sitting or a former minister or legislator of the political party in power, where earlier the sanction was accorded for prosecution but even before the investigation could be taken to a logical conclusion, such consent was withdrawn and as such the criminal cases were dropped,”
The PIL, filed by Chennai-based lawyer Karuppiah Gandhi, argued that the withdrawal of prosecution sanctions for certain state ministers and politicians was influenced by political motives.
Initially, Additional Advocate General and senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, representing the state government, claimed that the petitioner approached the court with unclean hands and questioned his intentions.
Justice Bhuyan remarked,
“This is a malady not confined to Tamil Nadu, it is across the country. If you open Pandora’s box, it will come back to you only.”
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court requested that the state file an affidavit asserting that no ministers or lawmakers from the ruling party have had prosecution sanctions withdrawn.
Senior advocate D.S. Naidu, representing the petitioner, noted that there have been numerous instances of sanctions being revoked before investigations concluded, urging the court to maintain oversight.
The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing for September 17.
Also Read: Supreme Court Rejects Plea to Remove Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi
It agreed to consider the plea, which was filed in October 2023, and issued a notice to the state government.
Gandhi is seeking the transfer of cases and trials involving current state ministers and legislators to other states, asserting that the ongoing prosecution in Tamil Nadu fails to inspire confidence for fair trials within the state.
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
