After SC relief, DMK govt reinstates ex-min Ponmudi as legislator

The Madras high court had found him guilty last December which had led to his immediate disqualification as an MLA

Chennai The Tamil Nadu government reinstated senior DMK leader K Ponmudi as a legislator on Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court suspended his conviction in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Senior DMK leader K Ponmudi (PTI)

The Madras high court had found him guilty last December which had led to his immediate disqualification as an MLA.

He was elected from the Tirukkoyilur assembly constituency and served as the higher education minister in chief minister MK Stalin’s cabinet.

Last week, the assembly secretariat had notified Tirukkoyilur constituency as vacant and forwarded it to the Election Commission of India (ECI). But Ponmudi received relief from the Supreme Court and the order copy was released on Wednesday.

Speaker M Appavu on Wednesday declared that a notification issued on March 5, notifying Thirukkoyilur constituency as vacant “shall cease to operate”, which implies that Ponmudy will continue as an MLA.

Shortly after, the chief minister wrote to Governor RN Ravi recommending the inclusion of Ponmudi into his cabinet and asking for the swearing-in ceremony to be held immediately. He is likely to be allotted the same Higher Education portfolio.

The case pertains to an order by justice G Jayachandran last December 21 after he allowed the appeal filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption (DVAC) against a trial court’s order acquitting the Ponmudi and his wife in the case filed against them for amassing assets disproportionate to the known sources of income during Ponmudi’s tenure as Higher Education and Mines Minister between 2006 and 2011.

This SC verdict comes as a major relied for the DMK ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Two other ministers have been in the dock. V Senthil Balaji, continues to remain in jail in a money laundering case, since last June, after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.

The high court has also set aside the acquittal of rural development minister I Periyasamy in another corruption case and ordered for trail to begin soon.