The Supreme Court has directed the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to determine who should handle the suo motu proceedings initiated by a single judge against the discharge of Tamil Nadu ministers in corruption cases.
During the hearing of applications filed by the concerned ministers, the bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and P K Mishra stated that the Chief Justice should either take up the matter himself or assign it to another judge.
The bench clarified that their order should not be interpreted as a criticism of the judges who were previously handling the suo motu matters. The case before the SC pertains to corruption charges against two TN ministers, KKSSR Ramachandran and Thangam Thenarasu, which were revived by Justice Anand Venkatesh in 2023.
Upon hearing their appeal, the SC had requested a report from the HC Registry. After examining the report, the bench noted that the single judge had instructed the Registry to number the cases, even though the appropriate protocol would have been to seek permission from the HC Chief Justice, who is in charge of the case roster.
Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the HC, stated that the CJ’s authorization had been obtained in accordance with relevant rules. Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, representing the appellants, expressed concern that such orders could cause chaos.
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