Disproportionate assets case: Legal woes mount for DMK as three more ministers come under Madras HC scanner

Chennai: Ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) legal woes continued to mount with the Madras High Court reversing the acquittal of three more ministers in Chief Minister M K Stalin’s Cabinet in disproportionate assets (DA) cases and asking the respective lower courts to conduct retrials. With this, the number of ministers whose acquittal in corruption cases by district courts was reversed by the High Court has gone up to five.

In August 2023, Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court took suo motu cognizance of the acquittal of Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Revenue Minister K K S S R Ramachandran, and then Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and reversed the orders of the lower courts. However, the Supreme Court in September 2024 stayed the orders of the Madras High Court with regard to Thenarasu and Ramachandran.

While taking up sumo motu cases against Thenarasu and Ponmudy, justice Venkatesh had come down heavily on the lower judiciary and the Directorate of Vigilance and anti-Corruption (DVAC) for changing its stance after a change of government in the state.

In the last one week, Justice P Velmurugan reversed the discharge of senior minister and DMK general secretary Duraimurugan, Agriculture Minister M R K Panneerselvam, and Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy and asked them to stand re-trial again. While the discharge of Ponmudy, Thenarasu, and Ramachandran came after the DMK government came to power in 2021, Durai Murugan, Panneerselvam, and Periyasamy were discharged during the 2011-2021 tenure of the AIADMK dispensation.

The legal trouble for the DMK comes at a time when the party is preparing to face the 2026 assembly elections, which is likely to be a four-cornered contest. The development also coincides with the legal battle that the party’s Karur strongman V Senthil Balaji fought in the Supreme Court against his reinduction into the Stalin-led Cabinet.

Separately, relatives of Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru, children of Ponmudy, and MP S Jagathrakshakan are under the scanner of Central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department. Raids were also conducted at premises owned by PWD Minister E V Velu in 2023.

While the DMK says the ministers will fight the cases through legal means in their individual capacities, the party is worried about its impact in the run-up and during the elections, especially with the AIADMK and BJP forming an alliance.

“Such legal troubles are not new for the party but the acquittal of at least half-a-dozen ministers in corruption cases is a serious setback. We will be under attack from the AIADMK-BJP alliance and newcomers on the issue. This is a serious political issue and we also believe there will be more raids on our leaders in the coming months,” a senior DMK leader told DH.