The Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside the conviction and two-year sentence imposed on former Local Administration and Rural Development Minister T.M. Selvaganapathy and three others in 2014 in connection with the 1995 cremation shed construction scam case (erstwhile Jayalalithaa regime).
Justice G. Jayachandran allowed all their criminal appeals pending in the High Court since 2014. The judge also dismissed an appeal preferred by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2015 challenging their acquittal by the trial court from the charge of criminal conspiracy.
Apart from the former Minister, who is now in the DMK, the CBI had booked IAS officers J.T. Acharyalu (who died pending adjudication of his appeal) and M. Sathyamurthy too as accused in the case since they had served as Secretary and Director respectively in the Rural Development department between 1995 and 1996.
