Supreme Court Dismisses Ex-TN CM Paneerselvam's Plea Challenging Madras HC's Suo Motu Revision Against His Discharge In DA Case

The Supreme Court today dismissed former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam's challenge to a Madras High Court order, vide which suo motu revision was initiated against his discharge in a criminal case.

"The SLP stands dismissed. We may however observe that the observation made by the learned judge in the impugned order...are to be considered only for the purpose of the notice order...in the Suo Motu Criminal RC No. 1524/2023 and those observations should have no bearing in deciding the criminal revision finally. All contentions are left open", said the Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra.

To recap, the case against Panneerselvam was that while serving as the Revenue Minister and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between 19.05.2001 to 21.09.2001 and 02.03.2002 to 12.05.2006, he accumulated property and pecuniary resources disproportionate to his sources of income. A preliminary inquiry was conducted by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption(DVAC) and finding materials to proceed further, a case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Investigation was taken up & sanction to prosecute obtained. However, after the change of governemnt, the DVAC filed a supplementary chargesheet exonerating Paneerselvam and sought to withdraw the prosecution.

On December 3, 2012, Chief Judicial Magistrate/Special Judge, Sivagangai discharged the leader after allowing the withdrawal of the prosecution. Having reservations about the order and finding prima facie material, Justice Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court initiated a suo motu revision and issued notice to Panneerselvam. Notably, the same judge also exercised suo motu revision powers over orders discharging TN Ministers K Ponmudy, KKSSR Ramachandran and Thangam Thenarasu.

Today, during the hearing before the top Court, Senior Counsel Jaideep Gupta appearing for Panneerselvam urged that the prosecution in his regard was withdrawn by the prosecutor himself.

After hearing submissions, Justice Roy remarked, "I can tell you that we have read the impugned order and we feel that there are [...] that would justify passing of such an order".

Gupta, without pressing any further on merits, pled that the observations in the impugned order are "anything but prima facie". "To go back before this Court where he says that these are admitted facts, it's a little difficult", he said.

To this, Justice Roy responded, "In the earlier round, we have said that it is for the Chief Justice...".

Be that as it may, in conclusion, while the SLP was dismissed, the Court clarified that the observations in the impugned order shall not have a bearing on the criminal revision when it is finally heard. 

The petition was moved through Advocate on Record Goutham Shivshankar.

Case Title: TR. O. PANNEERSELVAM AND ORS. Versus THE STATE REP BY THE DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, Diary No. 9209-2024