'Bogus Petition' : Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Probe Into Alleged Voice Clips Of TN Minister PTR

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition seeking judicial probe into the alleged voice clips of Tamil Nadu Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan in which he had allegedly made remarks about the amassing of wealth by the family of TN Chief Minister MK Stalin.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud termed the petition as "bogus" and said that the Court cannot be made into a "political platform".

"This is an absolute bogus petition. There is allegedly an audio clip in terms of which the former Finance Minister refers to the family of the CM. This has no evidentiary value. This is hearsay at best", CJI Chandrachud observed at the outset.

The petitioner Pranesh Rajamanickam, appearing as party-in-person, submitted that Thiagarajan was changed as the Finance Minister due to the voice clips. "If it was not his voice, then why was he changed?", the petitioner asked. The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said that the Court cannot go behind the political decisions relating to changing of portfolios of ministers.

The petitioner asserted that as a voter in Tamil Nadu, he is entitled to know the reasons behind the decisions and contended that a judicial enquiry was necessary.

"What is the actionable material you have? On the basis of some audio clip you want us to have a commission of inquiry?Article 32 petition for investigating an audio clip? We won't use this as a political platform. Dismissed", CJI Chandrachud said.

After the bench dictated the order of dismissal, the petitioner came back again seeking a direction to send the audio clips to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory. The bench refused this prayer too reiterating that the petition has been dismissed.

Case : Pranesh Rajamanickam vs Union of India and others W.P.(C) No. 687/2023

Click Here To Read/Download Order