All six suo motu revision petitions against the discharge/acquittal of sitting as well as former Ministers from disproportionate assets and other criminal cases were taken up by the Madras High Court with the prior permission of Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala, said Justice N. Anand Venkatesh on Wednesday.
He made the disclosure when senior advocate A. Ramesh, representing Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, cited a few Supreme Court judgments with respect to suo motu action and contended the Chief Justice, being the master of the roster, alone could decide the judge who could hear a suo motu case.
Justice Venkatesh said each of the six suo motu revision petitions were numbered only after the Chief Justice gave permission and it was the latter who had ordered listing of all six cases before him. “You (Bar members) are all under the impression as if I picked up the cases without the Chief Justice’s permission. It is not so,” he said.
When the counsel went on to argue that Justice Venkatesh had put the cart before the horse by giving findings regarding foul play even at the stage of ordering notices on the suo motu revision petition, the judge wondered why none had so far not taken any of his six orders on appeal to the Supreme Court.
“Why is that nobody is testing these orders before the Supreme Court? If, according to you, the order is preconceived or not in accordance with law, please take them to the Supreme Court. I am not going to recuse from hearing even a single suo motu case. I am going to hear all of you before passing final orders,” the judge said.
However, since the Minister and his wife had engaged a counsel only now to represent them before the High Court in the suo motu revision petition and they had to be served with a paper book containing the documents based on which the suo motu action had been initiated, the judge adjourned the hearing to November 6.
Earlier, when the judge heard another suo motu revision petition taken up against the discharge of Revenue Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran and his family members from a disproportionate assets case, senior counsel N.R. Elango urged the judge to recuse from hearing the matter on the ground of bias.
The lawyer referred to certain paragraphs in the order passed by the judge on August 23 while ordering notice on the suo motu revision petition and said certain finding rendered by the judge in that order would work to the prejudice of the accused and hence there was an apprehension of bias.
However, since in this case, too, certain documents had to be provided to the respondents, the judge decided to take a call on the plea for recusal on November 2.
Since August 10 this year, the judge had initiated suo motu action against Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy, Mr. Ramachandran, Mr. Thennarasu, former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, Rural Development Minister I. Periyasamy and former Social Welfare Minister B. Valarmathi.
