A special court in Chennai on Wednesday, November 30, summoned Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Lok Sabha MP A Raja to appear in person in connection with the disproportionate assets case. The case is related to the 2015 disproportionate assets case in which the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) chargesheet indicted Raja, now representing the Nilgiris parliamentary constituency. As per the chargesheet filed against Raja in August 2022, as a Union minister in 2007 he had allegedly granted infrastructure status to a Gurugram-based real-estate firm to build a hotel in Kancheepuram district in exchange for money.
The chargesheet alleged that the real-estate firm routed the payment of Rs 4.56 crore to Raja through a company named Kovai Shelters Private Limited belonging to a close aide of the former Union minister. Raja's relatives are also the directors of the firm. The CBI had charged him with amassing assets worth Rs 5.53 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The case was transferred to a special court that hears cases against MPs and MLAs in Chennai, and it came up for hearing on Wednesday. Judge T Sivakumar issued summons to Raja, Krishnamurthy and N Ramesh, among others purportedly involved in the case, to appear in person. The case has been adjourned to January 10, 2023.