Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside the orders of the trial court discharging Tamil Nadu Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran and Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu in disproportionate assets cases and directed the trial court to frame charges against them in accordance with law.
High Court restored disproportionate assets case against DMK ministers
Justice Anand Venkatesh restored the disproportionate assets case against the ministers, saying that as prima facie materials were available, the trial court shall frame charges against them and proceed in accordance with the trial expeditiously on a day-to-day basis. The court directed Ramachandran to appear before the trial court on September 9 and Thangam Thenarasu to appear before the trial court on September 11, news agency PTI reported.
High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of discharge of ministers by trial court
The High Court had in August last year taken suo motu cognisance of the orders of the trial courts discharging the ministers, saying that the approach of the trial court was ex-facie illegal in discharging them without assigning any reason.
What are the allegations against ministers?
The allegations of corruption against both the ministers is during 2006-2011 when they were serving as ministers in a DMK government.
The allegation against Ramachandran is that during his tenure as a minister in the DMK government during 2006-2011, when held the portfolio of Health and Backward Classes, he along with his wife P Visalatchi and his friend K S P Shanmugamoorthy accumulated wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. The trial court discharged him after the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) filed a final report in the matter saying that no offences were made out.
The allegation against Thangam Thenarasu is that during his tenure as a minister in the DMK government during 2006-2011, when he held the portfolio of school education, he and his wife T Manimegalai accumulated wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. The trial court discharged him in December last year after the DVAC filed a final report into the matter, saying that no offence was made out.