CHENNAI: In a setback to former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri, the Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside a Madurai court’s order that had discharged him from specific charges of forging documents to grab land belonging to a temple.
Justice P. Velmurugan, who pronounced the orders on petitions filed in 2021, directed Alagiri to face trial in the 2014 land grab case. The case was registered by the Anti-Land Grab Cell of the Madurai police, which accused him of illegally acquiring 44 cents of land belonging to the Vinayakar Temple at Sivarakottai, Madurai, for his Daya Engineering College.
The police had charged him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
The trial court had, in 2021, discharged him from the particular charges of forging documents to grab the land. However, the Anti-Land Grab Cell filed a review petition in the Madras High Court, seeking to reverse the trial court’s order, while Alagiri filed a petition to be discharged from all charges.
Justice Velmurugan found a prima facie case in the police’s arguments and allowed their petition, reinstating the charges related to forgery. Simultaneously, he dismissed Alagiri’s plea seeking a full discharge from the case.