The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a land-grab case against the former Deputy Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi and five others, even as the Tamil Nadu government pressed for criminal proceedings arguing that “extortion by a powerful political figure is an offence against society.”
After a hearing that lasted an hour, a Bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and N.V. Ramana rejected the government’s stand with a short order: “Dismissed.”
“Let there be peace,” Justice Desai said.
The case relates to the sale of a property near the Chittaranjan Salai residence of Mr. Stalin in August 2008 during the DMK regime. The property was later leased out to Mr. Udhayanidhi’s film unit. The original owner, N. Seshadhri Kumar, filed a police complaint that he had sold it under duress. The complaint, made after the AIADMK returned to power, also implicated Mr. Stalin and Mr. Udhayanidhi.
The Madras High Court, however, quashed the charges against the DMK leader when it was informed that Mr. Kumar was paid an additional Rs. 1.75 crore in an out-of-court settlement. But the State government refused to accept the compromise. Instead, it moved the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision to scrap the charges. “Extortion is too serious an offence” and could not be dismissed just because two private parties decided so, it argued.
“The question is whether a few powerful people can take the law into their own hands. Extortion is an offence against the State, an offence against society. A small man owning a property is threatened by goons. The quashing of criminal proceedings in the case is an open invitation to musclemen to muscle their way in and later settle with poor victims against the rule of law,” argued senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who appeared for the State.
Justifying the State's interest in the matter, Mr. Naphade said: “The State has an independent responsibility to ensure that crimes committed are punished.”
‘No basis’ Countering Mr. Naphade, senior advocate T.R. Andhyarujina, instructed by V.G. Pragasam, counsel for Mr. Stalin, said there was no further basis for continuing the prosecution as the settlement was reached to the “satisfaction of everyone.”
