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It is alleged that Periyasamy during his tenure as the Minister for Housing in the DMK cabinet from 2008 to 2009 colluded with others to unlawfully acquire a High Income Group Plot through the Tamil Nadu Housing Board in the Mogappair Eri Scheme
The Supreme Court on Monday, April 8 has stayed the criminal proceedings against Tamil Nadu Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy in a corruption case.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra said the trial court should not proceed in the case as the impugned judgment reversing the Minister's discharge had to be examined.
In February, the Madras High Court had set aside the discharge order of Periyasamy in a corruption case while pronouncing its judgment in suo motu revision proceedings initiated by the court last year.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh in the order stated, "The legitimacy of the administration of criminal justice will be eroded and public confidence will be shaken if MLAs and Ministers facing corruption cases can short-circuit criminal trials by adopting the modus operandi that has been carried out in this case."
The judge had pointed out that in the present case, the Special Court discharged Periyasamy on March 17, 2023, from the case on the ostensible ground of a supposed defect/invalidity in sanction under Section 19 of the P.C. Act, 1988.
Holding the trial court's discharge order suffered from manifest perversity and gross illegality, the Special Court was asked to proceed with trial. Taking a serious view, Justice Venkatesh had held, "This Court has no hesitation in concluding that this case warrants the exercise of powers under Section 397/401 CrPC to prevent the subversion of the criminal justice system through a palpably illegal order of discharge".
Background:
The allegation against Periyasamy is that during his tenure as the Minister for Housing in the DMK cabinet from 2008 to 2009, he colluded with others to unlawfully acquire a High Income Group Plot through the Tamil Nadu Housing Board in the Mogappair Eri Scheme.
The inquiry against Periyasamy was initiated in 2011 when DMK was voted out of power. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), in its report in 2012 stated that there was something seriously amiss about how the allotment was made in hot haste. Thereafter, the Tamil Nadu Vigilance Commission accorded permission to register a regular case against Periyasamy in February 2012.
Consequently, an FIR was registered by the DVAC for the offences under Sections 120-B, 420 and 109 of the IPC and 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Periyasamy and two others and the proceedings began before the Special Court for Cases Under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In 2016, on Periyasamy's plea, the high court called for the records from the Special Court, and the entire proceedings before the Special Court stood neutralized.
Later on, in July 2019, the matter was transferred to the Special Court for MP/MLA cases. The Special Court framed charges against the accused persons in December 2019. Thereafter, nothing significant happened in the matter till May, 2020 and by that time DMK was voted back to power.
In May 2022, the earlier judge who had unsuccessfully persevered to conduct a trial was moved out and another successor was directed to assume charge.
Thereafter, in February 2023, a petition under “Section 19 of the P.C Act”, was filed at the behest of Periyasamy with a prayer to discharge him from the case and in March 2023, he was discharged from the case.
Case Title: Periyasamy vs. DVAC
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