The Speaker said Ponmudy’s membership has been restored in the state assembly.(PTI)
The state Legislative Assembly Speaker M Appavu reinstated Ponmudy, who will continue as a member of the Legislative Assembly
Disqualified Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader K Ponmudy has been reinstated days after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction and three-year jail sentence in a disproportionate asset case.
The case against the minister and his wife was registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in 2011. Ponmudy was then the Minister for Higher Education and Mines in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) regime from 2006 to 2011.
The state Legislative Assembly Speaker M Appavu reinstated Ponmudy, who will continue as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The Speaker said Ponmudy’s membership has been restored in the state assembly. Moreover, Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to the Governor asking for Mr Ponmudy’s oath-taking as a minister today or tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court has scheduled the final hearing of a suo motu revision filed against the acquittal of former Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy in a disproportionate assets case (different from the one heard by the Supreme Court yesterday) from April 15 to 19, 2024.
Following Mr. Ponmudy’s disqualification, Minister of Backward Classes Welfare RS Rajakannappan assumed responsibility for higher education. If a court finds members of the legislatures guilty, they are legally barred from serving in parliament or the assembly.
Mr. Ponmudy’s tenure as a minister and MLA ended shortly after his conviction in December 2023. The claimed disproportionate assets complaint was filed by the DMK’s rival AIADMK in 2011, the year it defeated the DMK.
THE PROSECUTION’S CASE
According to the prosecution, the accused were charged with accumulating Rs 1.79 crore in wealth that was disproportionate to their documented income sources from April 13, 2006 to March 31, 2010. The couple faced legal action for their inability to provide a satisfactory explanation for this discrepancy.
It was the DVAC’s case that as of April 13, 2006, Ponmudy and his wife possessed pecuniary resources and properties valued at approximately Rs 2.71 crore, marking the commencement of the scrutiny period. By the conclusion of the examination on March 31, 2010, the couple was found holding pecuniary resources and properties amounting to Rs 6.27 crore.
The agency contended that Ponmudy, as a public servant, violated the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, specifically under Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(e). Additionally, his wife was accused of abetting and assisting him in obtaining and holding pecuniary resources and properties on his behalf.
In 2016, a special court in Villupuram acquitted the duo. Special judge for Prevention of Anti-Corruption Act Cases T Sundaramoorthy had passed the order.
