The Madras High Court Bench here on Monday ordered notice to the Principal Secretary of the Public Department and the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption on a petition filed by former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran challenging the appointment of a special public prosecutor to appear in a disproportionate assets case involving him.
In his petition, Mr. Ramachandran claimed that the Public Secretary had passed an order on July 11, 2013 appointing A. Jeyabalan, a retired legal advisor, as the special public prosecutor for a vigilance case involving him by invoking Section 24 (8) of the Cr.P.C.
According to the former Minister, the special public prosecutor’s appointment was liable to be set aside because the principal secretary had ‘misused his official position by making the appointment with political motive’.
Mr. Ramachandran claimed in his petition that the State government had so far appointed 15 special public prosecutors to appear in cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act involving 15 former Ministers belonging to the DMK.
While hundreds of disproportionate assets cases were pending in various courts, the appointment of special public prosecutors to appear in cases involving former Ministers alone were ‘unreasonable and abusive of power,’ the petitioner contended through his counsel. He further pointed out that in various instances in different States such as Karnataka, the public prosecutors appearing for the disproportionate assets cases were appointed in consultation with the High Courts and the Supreme Court. But in Tamil Nadu, neither the High Court nor the Sessions Courts was consulted before the special public prosecutors were appointed, the petitioner alleged.
