Brazen illegality, manifest perversity... What Madras HC said while restoring wealth case against O Panneerselvam after 12 years

CHENNAI: Brazen illegality, manifest perversity, deliberate ambush of the law, and polluting the streams of justice – Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court did not mince words while restoring the disproportionate assets case booked against former chief minister O Panneerselvam and family members after setting aside the discharge order issued by a special court nearly 12 years ago.

It was the Constitutional duty of the High Court to intervene where the law has been deliberately ambushed and streams of justice are polluted to subvert the course of justice, the judge said in the order on Tuesday.

“The edifice of our system of administration of justice is rooted in public confidence in our courts,” Justice Venkatesh said, declaring that the discharge order of the Sivaganga special court was utopian, patently illegal, and grossly improper exercise of judicial discretion.

The High Court cannot remain a mute spectator where a criminal court has passed an order that smacks of brazen illegality and its order is vitiated by manifest perversity leading to a gross miscarriage of justice, wrote the judge in the order.

“The special court, Sivaganga, by chance or by deliberate design, failed to see through the game plan of the accused, as the final report giving clean chit to the accused persons and State decision to withdraw the case is an ulterior purpose to short circuit the prosecution to get Panneerselvam and his family off the hook,” he added.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh directed the Sivaganga chief judicial magistrate to transfer all records connected to the disproportionate assets case within four weeks to the Principal District and Sessions Court in Madurai, which is the jurisdictional court to hear cases related to MPs/MLAs.

Upon receiving the records, the Madurai court should issue summons to the accused persons, including OPS, to proceed with the case, read the order.

The judge also recommended the trial court to cancel the bail and remand the accused persons if they adopt dilatory tactics, and directed it to consider the final report of the investigation agency as a supplementary report.

In 2006, the Madurai unit of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had registered a case against Panneerselvam and his family members, including his son P Ravindhranath and brother O Raja, for allegedly accumulating wealth disproportionate to income when Panneerselvam was the Revenue Minister between 2001 and 2006 in the AIADMK regime.

N Kulothunga Pandian, the Investigation Officer (IO) in the case, probed for nearly three years, during which time he examined 272 witnesses and collected 235 documents. In 2009, he filed a final report before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Theni, alleging that Panneerselvam’s wealth increased by 10 times during his ministership. Later the case was transferred to Sivaganga CJM.

However, based on the final report filed by another officer who was appointed as the IO giving a clean chit, the special court in Sivaganga discharged OPS and his family members from the DA case on December 3, 2012.

In August last year, Justice N Anand Venkatesh initiated suo motu proceedings after observing that the narratives of the case were shocking and disturbing. The judge said, “This is a case where a political personage has maneuvered the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, the State government and the court to ensure that the trial against him was derailed.” The judge also observed that the DVAC was acting like a chameleon, changing its colour depending on who was in power.