The Madras High Court, on Wednesday, April 23, set aside a trial court order discharging Tamil Nadu Minister Duraimurugan and his family from a disproportionate assets case and directed the Vellore Special Court to complete the trial within six months. Justice P Velmurugan passed the order while hearing a batch of review petitions filed by the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) in 2013 against the discharge orders.
The case was originally filed in 2002 by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), alleging that Duraimurugan, who served as Public Works Minister from 1996 to 2001, had amassed assets worth over Rs 3.92 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income. The vigilance officials booked Duraimurugan, his wife Santhakumari, son DM Kathir Anand (who is now a Lok Sabha MP), daughter-in-law K Sangeetha, and brother Durai Singaram.
In 2007, however, the Vellore Special Court had discharged all of them. In 2013, the DVAC filed the current criminal revision petitions challenging the discharge order, along with a petition seeking acceptance of the significant delay. On February 27, 2013, the High Court accepted the 1,789-day delay, citing the fact that the DMK was in power in the state from 2006 to 2011, which had hindered the timely filing of the revision petitions.
Earlier this year, the case came up for hearing before Justice Velmurugan who conducted elaborate hearings and reserved the verdict. On April 24, he set aside the 2007 discharge orders and directed the Vellore Special Court to frame charges, examine witnesses, and complete the trial within six months.
Appearing for the DVAC, Additional Advocate General Ravindran detailed the contents of the FIR and chargesheet, contending that the acquittal was flawed. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra represented Duraimurugan, while senior advocate P Wilson appeared for the minister’s family.
The defence argued that the DVAC had wrongly included the personal and business income of the other accused as part of the minister’s income. They further stated that some properties cited in the charges were acquired prior to the relevant period and there was no evidence to suggest that the minister’s relatives were acting as his proxies. All accused, they contended, had filed proper income tax returns, which were accepted by authorities.
Additionally, the defence questioned the legitimacy of the investigation, pointing out that it was conducted by an officer below the required rank and without appropriate legal sanction. These grounds had formed the basis for the trial court’s acquittal.
Duraimurugan (86) is currently the DMK general secretary and holds the second position in the present Cabinet.
(With IANS inputs)