The Madras High Court has refused to stay all further proceedings in a case pending against Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy before a special court, for having allegedly abused his position when he was Minister for Mines and Mineral Resources between 2007 and 2011 and obtained quarry licences in favour of his son, friends and relatives.
Justice G. Chandrasekharan dismissed a stay petition preferred by the Minister’s son P. Gowthamasigamani, who was the second accused in the case, pending before the Villupuram Principal Sessions Court, which is also the special court for trying cases against Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
The petitioner had urged the High Court to quash the case in its entirety and stay all further proceedings before the special court until the disposal of the quash petition. However, the judge pointed out that the allegation against the petitioner and other accused was that they had quarried 2,64,644 lorry loads of excess red sand. The judge also took note that the prosecution had accused them of having blatantly violated the quarry licence conditions and thereby causing a loss of ₹28,36,40,600 to the public exchequer by not paying the seigniorage fee for the red sand excavated beyond the permissible limit.
