Tamil Nadu Minister for Industries Thangam Thennarasu and his wife Manimegalai have been discharged by the Principal District and Sessions Court in Srivilliputhur from a disproportionate assets case filed against them by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in 2012.
The judge had passed the order discharging them from the case on Monday. A decade ago, the erstwhile AIADMK government, headed by Jayalalithaa, had filed the case under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act against Mr. Thennarasu, who was the School Education Minister between 2006 and 2011 during the Karunanidhi government, and his wife. They were charged with having amassed wealth, disproportionate to their known sources of income during the check period based on searches conducted by the DVAC on their premises in 2012.
Even as the case was being heard, Mr. Thennarasu and his wife filed petitions before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court here in 2016, seeking to discharge them from the case claiming several inconsistencies in the charge sheet filed by the DVAC.
In the meantime, the prosecution filed a supplementary charge sheet after further investigation into the disproportionate assets case two months ago.
Meanwhile, the case that was transferred to Special Court for trying elected representatives in Chennai, was again transferred to the District Sessions Court here.
