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Madras HC asks police to quiz EPS, Sasikala in Kodanad case
After the AIADMK’s defeat in the assembly elections, the four-month-old DMK government closing in on Palaniswami on cases related to his regime and the 2017 Kodanad Estate heist-cum-murder case is the latest among them.
Chennai
The Madras high court on Friday asked the police in Nilgiris district to summon former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami, V K Sasikala, and others for examination before a trial court, which is hearing the 2017 Kodanad Estate heist-cum-murder case, which has come to haunt the former CM, who accidentally came to the top post after J Jayalalithaa’s death and solidified his position in the AIADMK.
After the party’s defeat in the assembly elections, the four-month-old DMK government closing in on him on cases related to his regime and the 2017 Kodanad Estate heist-cum-murder case is the latest among them.
The usually cool-headed Palaniswami has been visibly anxious since the Niligiris police last month questioned a key accused, K V Sayan, who has previously linked Palaniswami with the case. Since then, the Nilgiris district police formed a special team to further investigate the case. And the Niligiris sessions court on Thursday granted four weeks’ time for the prosecution to submit a report on the status of the inquiry.
Palaniswami in at least two press interactions has been constantly telling reporters that Stalin is out to frame him in the case. “I’m hearing from reporters that they took a secret statement from Sayan to frame me and others,” he said. The AIADMK walked out of the assembly over this issue, protested, and complained to the governor. In a step ahead, an AIADMK functionary who is a prosecution witness filed a plea in court seeking for the further investigation in the case to be stopped which the court denied.
“Palaniswami is taking legal aid in the case,” said a senior AIADMK leader close to him and not wishing to be named. The party is rattled. “They’re giving him (Palaniswami) mental torture,” AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar told reporters last week.
Palaniswami who was on the periphery of politics came into the limelight and directly occupied the chief minister’s chair in a coup led by Jayalalithaa’s close aide VK Sasikala who wanted the post for herself but had to hand it in to someone she trusted after being convicted in February 2017 in the disproportionate assets case. In the party where Jayalalithaa was the only power centre and Sasikala managed it all behind the scenes, the latter’s absence gave room to several factions, particularly the one led by deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam. Even as Palaniswami and Panneerselvam have kept Sasikala out and the party together with their dual leadership, the factions are still not fully settled.
Palaniswami comes from a humble background with no mentor is politics and hails from a Gounder (Other Backward Class) farmer family in Salem in the western region of Tamil Nadu. During his four years as chief minister, he nurtured his community and leaders from the west within the party that challenged the predominant community of Mukkalathors to which Panneerselvam and Sasikala belong. These moves ensured that Panneerselvam, who was Jayalalithaa’s choice for chief minister thrice in her absence due to being jailed and hospitalised, became sidelined. The tension between the two spilled over publicly several times but somehow the decisions always went in Palaniswami’s favour. He was the AIADMK’s CM candidate and when they lost, he got the next best position, the leader of opposition.
“Despite so many problems and factionalism, Palaniswami consolidated his position and he even managed to bring Panneerselvam to his side,” says political analyst Maalan Narayanan. “Even in future polls, he is the only contender for Stalin, so they would want to weaken him. But not all that is happening is purely political. In the Kodanad case, there are glaring gaps in investigations.”
The sensational case refers to the break-in at Jayalalithaa’s 900-acre tea estate in Kodanad in April 2017, which had resulted in the murder of a security guard and several other mysterious deaths. The timing of the crime is also intriguing as it happened following Jayalalithaa’s death in a Chennai hospital in December 2016 and Sasikala’s imprisonment in February 2017 in the disproportionate assets case and when Palaniswami was chief minister. He had told the assembly the day after the incident that it was a case of robbery gone wrong.
“The AIADMK cadre are still concerned over Jayalalithaa’s death so if the investigation proves that Palaniswami had a hand in the Kodanad case, he is doomed forever. If he’s proved innocent, he can once again solidify his place that DMK was targeting him. But I don’t think the DMK would have walked into this without having some strong clues,” said Narayanan.
Stalin has also played this subtly. While he hasn’t openly criticised Palaniswami, the government agencies are going about anti-corruption raids and conducting fresh investigations. In the assembly, Stalin has dismissed allegations that this is out of political vendetta and justified that this is the DMK’s poll promise to bring the culprits to book. “We are not bringing up any new cases, are we? They’re paying for their actions over the last 10 years,” said a DMK leader not wishing to be named.
After the DMK settled down after firefighting the second wave of Covid-19, the action began when the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) began to file corruption cases against former AIADMK ministers, including Palaniswami’s close aide SP Velumani (ex municipal administration minister). The AIADMK began to get jittery and formed a special legal team to advise their party leaders who they said were being targeted by DMK out of political vendetta. “Palaniswami and Velumani are from the western region which is the weak link for the DMK,” says Naraynana. “So their targets have started from the western region to neutralise AIADMK’s power.”
A speculation making the rounds is that the DMK would prefer to have Panneerselvam compared to the stronger Palaniswami as the lone leader of the AIADMK. “It could be possible,” says Narayanan. “MGR once called DMK an evil force. And they’ve continued to criticise the DMK but Panneerselvam isn’t highly critical and he has gone to the extent of even praising the DMK. But Palaniswami continues to speak from an anti-DMK stance.”
