CHENNAI: A public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking to reinstate the case concerning an alleged flyover construction scam in Chennai between 1996 and 2001, during the DMK regime, against the current Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and his Cabinet colleague K. Ponmudy, was withdrawn on Tuesday.
The counsel for the petitioner, Manickam Athappa Goundar, a Coimbatore-based entrepreneur and activist, sought the court’s permission to withdraw the petition, stating that Goundar was unwilling to continue with the case for personal reasons.
The first bench, comprising Chief Justice K.R. Shriram and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, accepted the withdrawal and allowed Goundar to reclaim the Rs. 1 lakh deposit made per the court's direction to demonstrate his bona fide intention in filing the petition.
The PIL, originally filed in April 2024, called for quashing the Assembly Speaker’s 2006 decision to revoke the 2005 sanction that permitted prosecution of the late former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, the late former Minister Ko Si Mani, Stalin, and Ponmudy in connection with the 2001 flyover scam. The petition also sought fresh prosecution against the accused.
When the petition was heard, the bench questioned the justification for bringing the case to court after a 17-year delay. Senior advocate M.R. Venkatesh, representing the petitioner, argued that the passage of time should not prevent justice. He noted that the High Court has recently taken suo motu action to review past trial court decisions that discharged or acquitted certain sitting and former ministers.
The petition contended that the Speaker, who issued the initial sanction in 2005 to prosecute Karunanidhi, Stalin, Ponmudy, and Ko Si Mani for alleged misconduct in the flyover construction, had overstepped his authority by withdrawing the sanction once it was granted, especially after the DMK returned to power.
It may be recalled that in 2001, Karunanidhi’s night-time arrest by the police at his residence stirred widespread public outrage and condemnation. Stalin and other party leaders, implicated in the case, were also detained by the police.