Chennai: The Madras high court on Thursday sentenced Tamil Nadu higher education minister K Ponmudy and his wife to three years imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case.
Justice G Jayachandran pronouncing the order, also imposed a fine of Rs.50 lakh each on Ponmudy and his wife. The court also suspended the sentence for a month to allow him to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The high court had already convicted the minister and his wife in the case and pronounced the sentence on Thursday.
The couple was booked in 2011 by the DVAC under the Prevention of Corruption Act between 2006 and 2011 when Ponmudy was minister for mines.
Ponmudy is the first serving Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam minister to be sentenced in a corruption case.
On Tuesday, the high court had set aside his acquittal by a special court (for cases against MPs/MLAs) in Villupuram in 2016. It allowed the appeal filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in 2017.
After finding the couple guilty on Tuesday, the court directed them to appear in person to pronounce the quantum of the sentence.