NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on April 8 the plea of Tamil Nadu Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy challenging the Madras High Court order initiating trial against him in a corruption case.
A two-judge bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra said it will take up the matter for hearing on April 8 after Periyasamy’s counsel pleaded for urgent hearing.
Advocate Ram Sankar, appearing for Periyasamy, sought the apex court’s direction for deferment of trial and exemption from personal appearance before a Chennai court in the graft case.
Notably, the Madras High Court on Febrauary 26 had set aside the March 17, 2023 discharge order of the trial court and directed the minister to stand trial.
Periyasamy then challenged the move in the the Supreme Court.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Periyasamy, had argued that the prior sanction for his prosecution under Section 197 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 and Section 19(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was required to be obtained from the state governor, who under the law is the competent authority to grant such sanction. “But in this case, the sanction of prosecution is issued by the state assembly speaker,” he had pointed out.
The senior lawyer had also questioned the validity of such a sanction as sanction for the acts done in the capacity of a cabinet minister can only be granted only by the governor.
Periyasamy, who served as the cabinet minister for housing and urban development in the DMK government in 2006-2011, has said he approved allotment of a plot of land in favour of a person named Ganesan. He, however, has claimed he did not take any bribe or benefited financially from his action.