All six suo motu revision petitions against the discharge/acquittal of sitting as well as former Ministers from disproportionate assets and other criminal cases were taken up by the Madras High Court with the prior permission of Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala, said Justice N. Anand Venkatesh on Wednesday.
He made the disclosure when senior advocate A. Ramesh, representing Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, cited a few Supreme Court judgments with respect to suo motu action and contended the Chief Justice, being the master of the roster, alone could decide the judge who could hear a suo motu case.
Justice Venkatesh said each of the six suo motu revision petitions were numbered only after the Chief Justice gave permission and it was the latter who had ordered listing of all six cases before him. “You (Bar members) are all under the impression as if I picked up the cases without the Chief Justice’s permission. It is not so,” he said.
