T.N. Minister I. Periyasamy moves Madras High Court to quash TNHB plot allotment case

I. Periyasamy. File photo
| Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

Tamil Nadu Rural Development Minister I. Periyasamy has approached the Madras High Court to quash a 2011 case booked against him for the alleged irregular allotment of Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) plots to retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer M.S. Jaffar Sait, the latter’s wife M. Parvin, and another individual.

Justice P. Velmurugan on Friday (November 22, 2024) ordered notices, returnable by December 20, to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC), as well as the complainant A. Shankar alias ‘Savukku’ Shankar. A similar quash petition filed by the Minister in 2019 was dismissed by Justice M. Nirmal Kumar in 2022.

Explaining the reasons for preferring a second quash petition, senior counsel R. John Sathyan said, pursuant to the 2022 order, the proceedings against six other accused (including Mr. Sait and his wife) had been quashed and therefore, as of now, the Minister was the sole accused to be tried in the case.

“This is a material change in circumstances and therefore, this quash petition is maintainable,” the counsel said, and argued that charges such as criminal conspiracy require the presence of more than one accused in a case and that they could not be proved against a sole accused.

According to the DVAC, the irregular allotment of TNHB plots in a layout created at Kamarajar Nagar in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, had taken place under the Government’s Discretionary Quota (GDQ) when Mr. Periyasamy served as Minister for Housing in the DMK cabinet between 2007 and 2011.

The prosecution claimed that Ms. Parvin and another beneficiary R. Durgashankar had obtained the plots from the government by claiming to be social workers and entered into an agreement with real estate developer T. Udhayashankar of Landmark Construction on receipt of a few crores of rupees.

However, the Minister, in his present plea, pointed out that the case against Mr. Sait, who had served as Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), was quashed by the High Court on May 23, 2019, for want of sanction, from the Centre, to prosecute him since he was an All India Service officer.

Similarly, the case against Ms. Parvin was quashed by the Supreme Court on April 23, 2024. The case against the third accused, K. Murugaiah, who served as Executive Engineer of TNHB, was also quashed by the High Court on October 24, 2019, after observing that no loss had been caused to the government, the Minister said.

The case against the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer K. Rajamanickam, who served as secretary to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, was quashed by the High Court on August 10, 2023, and the case against Durgashankar and Udayakumar was quashed on August 29, 2023.

Highlighting that he remained the sole accused to be tried in the case at present, the Minister said, there was absolutely no substance in the charges pressed against him since the plots had been allotted only on collection of market price and there was no loss caused to the government.

He also contended that the sanction to prosecute him had been wrongly obtained from the Legislative Assembly Speaker on the ground that he was only an MLA when the charge sheet was filed. He said, the sanction ought to have been obtained from the Governor since he was a Minister when the alleged offence was committed.