Chennai: Madras high court has restored a corruption case against former DMK minister, the late Veerapandi Arumugam‘s family members, by setting aside a Salem special court order discharging them from a Rs 1.8 crore disproportionate assets case. While the case was registered in 2004, they were discharged from the case in Nov 2006.
“The trial court appears to have overlooked the fundamental aspect that at the stage of discharge, the prosecution is not required to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt; rather, it only needs to establish a prima facie case warranting the framing of charges,” Justice P Velmurugan said.
The trial court failed to appreciate that the allegations were supported by material evidence, which warranted further adjudication through trial rather than summary discharge, the judge said.
Consequently, the orders of discharge passed by the trial court are set aside. The trial court is directed to proceed with framing charges and conduct the trial in accordance with the law, the court added. The court passed the order on an appeal moved by the DVAC challenging the order passed by the chief judicial magistrate, Salem, dated Nov 6, 2006.
In 2004, DVAC registered a case against Veerapandi Arumugam, his wives Ranganayaki and Leela, sons Nedunchezhian and Rajendran, daughter Nirmala, and daughters-in-law Brinda and Shanthi. According to the prosecution, during his tenure as agriculture minister in the then DMK govt from 1996 to 2001, he amassed assets worth Rs 1.8 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income.
In 2006, Arumugam and his family moved the special court seeking to discharge them from the case. The Salem court accepted their plea and discharged all of them. Aggrieved, the DVAC moved an appeal in the high court. While the appeal was pending before the HC, Arumugam passed away in 2012. Subsequently, the high court dismissed the appeals stating that since the main accused died, the others could also be discharged.
In 2017, DVAC moved the Supreme Court against the discharge. The SC ruled that even if the main accused died, the trial could proceed against the remaining accused and remanded the case back to the high court. Meanwhile, Arumugam’s eldest son Nedunchezhian also passed away, and the case against him was dropped.