In a big setback for Tamil Nadu minister K Ponmudy and his wife P Visalatchi, the Madras High Court has set aside their acquittal and convicted them in a disproportionate assets case dating back to the period between 1996-2001.
The bench headed by Justice G Jayachandra found the couple guilty and has directed them to appear before the court on 21st December for pronouncement of sentence.
In 2016, Ponmudy and his wife were acuitted by by T Sundaramoorthy, Special Judge for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The judge had claimed that the prosecution failed to established the charge against the accused that they had possessed wealth and assets worth Rs 1.75 crore in excess of their known sources of income.
The case was registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) reportedly in 2002 on the charge that the couple’s Rs 1.4 crore income was disproportionate to their known sources of income at the time. AIADMK was in power back then.
As per the allegations, Ponmudy possessed illegal wealth during his stint as a minister in the state government from 1996-2001.
While announcing the order, the judge said that the TN Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy had amased 64.9 per cent assets more than his known sources of income.
The court also found flaws in the trial court order which was contested by the DVAC in 2017. Ponmudy is already under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the 11-year-old illegal red sand quarrying case.
Ponmudy’s counsel and Rajya Sabha MP NR Elango has sought the suspension of the sentencing in order to contest the court order against the minister. As per reports, any sentencing beyond a jail time of two years will lead to Ponmudy’s suspension as MLA.
In July, the ED had frozen Rs 41.9 crore in fixed deposits during searches carried out at Ponmudy’s premises. The central agency had seized Rs 81.7 lakh in cash and foreign currency upto Rs 13 lakh in the illegal red sand mining case.
