NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on an appeal filed by Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian and his wife, challenging a Madras High Court order that refused to quash a chargesheet against them in a land grab case in Guindy, Chennai.
A bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar reserved judgment after hearing arguments from all parties, including the Tamil Nadu government.
The appeal was filed against the High Court’s March 28 order refusing to quash the 2019 chargesheet, and directing the commencement of trial. The apex court will now decide whether sanction is required to prosecute Subramanian for an alleged offence committed while serving as Chennai mayor, though cognisance was taken after he assumed office as state minister.
The bench examined whether sanction is necessary to prosecute a public servant for an offence linked to a previous post, when he currently holds a different office that is neither alleged to have been misused nor abused.
The state argued that no sanction was needed as Subramanian was not serving as mayor when the FIR was filed. However, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Subramanian, contended that since he is now a Minister, sanction is required from the authority competent to remove him from the former post.