CHENNAI: Following the Supreme Court’s interim order suspending his conviction and sentence in a disproportionate assets case, DMK leader K Ponmudy’s membership in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was restored on Wednesday and he is set to become a minister again.
Official sources said Chief Minister MK Stalin has written a letter to Governor RN Ravi, attaching a copy of the Supreme Court order, regarding swearing-in of Ponmudy as minister either on Wednesday or Thursday.
Sources said as per the itinerary fixed earlier, the governor is scheduled to leave for New Delhi on Thursday at 6.20am by flight. The governor is expected to stay in the national capital for two or three days. Since the CM has written a letter about Ponmudy’s swearing-in ceremony, it is still not clear whether the governor will postpone his visit to Delhi or Ponmudy will be sworn in at a later date.
On March 5, the Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretariat notified the Thirukoyilur Assembly constituency as vacant from December 19, 2023 — the date on which the Madras High Court had set aside the trial court’s order acquitting Ponmudy in the disproportionate assets case.
However, since the Supreme Court, in its interim order dated March 11, suspended the conviction and sentence awarded to Ponmudy, the Assembly Speaker issued another notification on Wednesday nullifying the notification published on March 5 declaring Thirukoyilur constituency as vacant.
Speaker Appavu indicated Ponmudy’s reinstatement as MLA on March 12
Speaker Appavu, talking to reporters in Tirunelveli on March 12, indicated that Ponmudy could be reinstated as MLA as per the precedence established in the cases of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal. Both were reinstated as MPs after the apex court stayed their conviction.
