A great amount of anxiety has gripped lawyers representing four sitting Ministers and two former Ministers, facing suo motu revisions taken up by the Madras High Court against their acquittal/discharge from various criminal cases, over the next judge who will hold the portfolio of MP/MLA cases.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh held the portfolio in August this year, when he took up the suo motu revision against the acquittal of Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy and the discharge of Revenue Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran and Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu from disproportionate assets cases.
The judge also took up suo motu revisions against the discharge of former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and former Social Welfare Minister B. Valarmathi too, from similar cases apart from taking up another revision against the discharge of Revenue Minister I. Periyasamy from a case related to irregular allotment of a housing board plot.
Thereafter, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) as well as Mr. Ponmudy urged Justice Venkatesh to recuse himself from hearing the suo motu criminal revision petition on the ground of bias. However, the judge rejected the plea and refused to recuse himself from hearing the case.
In October 2023, Justice Venkatesh had to go to the Madurai Bench of the High Court for a period of three months due to the regular change in roster that takes place in the High Court once in three months and hence, Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala allotted the MP/MLA portfolio to Justice G. Jayachandran.
Justice Jayachandran allowed an application filed by the Higher Education Minister to implead the High Court’s Registrar General too as one of the respondents to the revision petition and wanted to know whether the Registry had followed all procedures scrupulously before numbering the suo motu revision petitions.
The Registrar General sought time till Janury 8, 2024 to submit his reply and the judge accepted the request. In the meantime, since the next change in roster was expected to come into effect from January 2, 2024 by when Justice Venkatesh would return to the principal seat in Chennai, there is anxiety in certain quarters as to who will be the next portfolio judge.
In his capacity as the master of the roster, the Chief Justice would have the option of giving the MP/MLA portfolio back to Justice Venkatesh for the next three months beginning from January 2024 or let Justice Jayachandran continue in the portfolio for one more term or give it to any other judge of the High Court.
