Madras High Court quashes DVAC chargesheet against T.N. Minister I. Periyasamy

Madras High Court quashes DVAC charge sheet against T.N. Minister I. Periyasamy

The Madras High Court on Friday (April 4, 2025) quashed a chargesheet filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) against Rural Development Minister I. Periyasamy in a 2011 case registered over the alleged irregular allotment of Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) plots to retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer M.S. Jaffar Sait, his wife M. Parvin, and another individual.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan allowed the quash petition filed by the Minister and set aside the chargesheet filed against the latter before a special court for MP/MLA cases in Chennai. This was the second quash petition filed by the Minister, since his first petition was dismissed by the High Court in 2022.

Explaining the reasons for preferring a second quash petition, senior counsel R. John Sathyan said, pursuant to the 2022 order, the proceedings against six other accused (including Mr. Sait and his wife) had been quashed and therefore, as of now, the Minister was the sole accused to be tried in the case.

“This is a material change in circumstances and therefore, this quash petition is maintainable,” the counsel said, and argued that charges such as criminal conspiracy require the presence of more than one accused in a case and that they could not be proved against a sole accused.

According to the DVAC, the irregular allotment of TNHB plots, in a layout created at Kamarajar Nagar in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, had taken place under the Government’s Discretionary Quota (GDQ) when Mr. Periyasamy served as Minister for Housing in the DMK cabinet between 2007 and 2011.

The prosecution claimed that Ms. Parvin and another beneficiary R. Durgashankar had obtained the plots from the government by claiming to be social workers and entered into an agreement with real estate developer T. Udhayashankar of Landmark Construction on receipt of a few crores of rupees.

However, the Minister, in his present plea, said the case against Mr. Sait, who had served as Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), was quashed by the High Court on May 23, 2019, for want of sanction from the Centre to prosecute him since he was an All India Service officer.