Corruption, scams, ED raids, a short journey to jail and a longer one to some preferred hospital for some pretentious ailment, long court hearings, and finally acquittal for insufficient clinching evidence have all become the new normal in a growing India. The leaders are no longer ashamed of their jail terms, walking out on bail with a ‘V’ sign, sneering and mocking at the establishment and the institutions.
Unfortunately, in order to attract the attention of the investigating agencies, politicians and government employees cannot display their wealth or convert it into physical assets. They have found a new breed of agents to overcome that pain: exporters and businessmen guided by qualified professionals to launder the ill-gotten money and round-trip it into the country as foreign direct investments or foreign institutional investments from the many shady overseas countries that thrive on such illegalities with scant or bogus controls.
Tamil Nadu has been at the forefront of corrupt politicians who have gone one step higher, unafraid to flaunt their wealth with fortress-like, high-walled homes. They own private hospitals, medical colleges, and educational institutions, generating even more lucrative returns in the form of capitation fees despite many strictures brought about by the Indian government to curb the practices.
Two ministers are currently being hauled up: Senthil Balaji and K. Ponmudi. The former pretended to have serious health issues and made every effort to avoid questioning. The Tamil Nadu government took the case all the way to the Supreme Court and contested the Enforcement Directorate’s authority to arrest anyone, complaining that it was an assault on the federalist spirit. The SC trashed their petition, and Balaji was finally taken into custody.
Ponmudi’s case is bizarre. He was being tried in the District Court at Villupuram, and the judge was in his final stages of hearing, which was damning for the minister. The TN government moved its might, catching an amenable HC judge administrative, who transferred the case from Villupuram to Vellore with an administrative order. The just-about-to-retire Vellore Judge, as expected, exonerated Minister Ponmudi, acquitting him of the grave charges.
Now I come to the main point of my post. There seems to be still hope for the country and its citizens for justice from bold and uprightly honest judges. One such High Court justice is Justice Anand Venkatesh. He did the unthinkable as a result of the HC Bench order’s illegality. He took Suo motu cognisance of the HC order and declared it ex-facie illegal and non-est in law, as no law gave authority to the high court administration, either under the Constitution or the Letter Patent, to transfer a pending criminal case from one district to another, reopening the case against Ponmudi. Not even the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, who was the Master of Roster, could do such a thing on a pending District hearing. Thus, the judge, exercising powers under Article 227 of the Constitution and Sections 397 and 401 Cr.P.C., decided to suo moto revise the case.
The pervasive and increasing corrupt practices and the submission to the ruling party’s dictum in the lower judiciary are raising their tentacles to the higher judiciary as well, and the HC Bench’s action is a pointer to the direction. The action of Justice Venkatesh has to be welcomed by every law-abiding citizen who dreams of our country becoming corruption-free in the foreseeable future.
Hats off to Justice Venkatesh for taking a bold stand and lifting the hopes of the citizens in the judiciary by several notches.
Jai Hind.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
