Continuing the crackdown against legislators, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court has now taken up two more suo motu revision petitions against the discharge of Rural Development Minister I. Periyasamy of DMK from a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and former Social Welfare Minister B. Valarmathi of AIADMK from a disproportionate assets case.
With these two revision petitions, the judge has taken up as many as six suo motu cases in the last month when he had acted against the acquittal of Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy and discharge of Revenue Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam from similar corruption cases.
The present revision had been taken up against an order passed by an Additional Special Court for MP/MLA cases in Chennai on March 17, 2023. The special court had allowed a petition filed by Mr. Periyasamy this year and discharged him from a case booked by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) for having allotted a Tami Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) plot to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s personal security officer (PSO) C. Ganesan, under the State government’s discretionary quota, when he served as Housing Minister in March 2008.
