New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday junked a plea filed by Tamil Nadu's Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi and his wife challenging Madras High Court's August 10 suo motu revision order against their acquittal in a disproportionate assets case. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, "Thank God! We have judges like Justice N Anand Venkatesh in our institution of judiciary….”. The bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, made it clear to the counsel for the parties that since the matter is pending before a single judge bench of the high court, it is not inclined to entertain the matter. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the petitioners. The counsel questioned the validity of the high court order and stressed that the order was passed without issuing notice to them.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the opposite side, submitted that the state government is shockingly in collusion with the accused and urged the court to issue a direction for the appointment of amicus curiae. The bench said a notice has already been issued to the public prosecutor by the high court.
The bench reiterated, “Thank God! For our institutions that you have judges like the judge in this case….”, and it is open for the accused to raise all their objections before the high court. The Chief Justice said the single judge is still seized of the proceedings regarding the order on August 10 and “we are not inclined to entertain the special leave petition at this present stage. The petitioners are at liberty to urge all appropriate grievances before the single judge when the proceedings are next taken up. We clarify that objections of any of the accused would be considered……petition is dismissed..”.
During the hearing advocate Balaji Srinivasan, who represented the opposite side, submitted that a similar plea has also been filed by Doctorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, which should also be dismissed. However, the bench said since DVAC is not represented here and the petition is in defects, let it come in the usual course.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh, in his order, had acted suo motu stating that events leading to the acquittal order passed by the Vellore principal district court on June 28 revealed "a shocking and calculated attempt to manipulate and subvert the criminal justice system". The matter is in connection with the disproportionate assets of Ponmudi between 1996 and 2001 during his tenure as Transport Minister.
