Why shouldn’t Palaniswami be examined as witness in Kodanad case, asks Madras HC

Wondering why AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami should not be summoned and examined as a defence witness in the 2017 Kodanad estate heist-cum-murder case, especially when he is not the Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu anymore, the Madras High Court on Friday (November 15, 2024) reserved its orders on a plea to examine not only him but also former CM Jayalalithaa’s close aide V.K. Sasikala and her relatives.

Wondering why AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami should not be summoned and examined as a defence witness in the 2017 Kodanad estate heist-cum-murder case, especially when he is not the Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu anymore, the Madras High Court on Friday (November 15, 2024) reserved its orders on a plea to examine not only him but also former CM Jayalalithaa’s close aide V.K. Sasikala and her relatives.

Justice P. Velmurugan deferred his orders on a 2021 criminal revision petition filed by three accused, D. Deepu, M.S. Satheesan, and A. Santhosh Samy, against the refusal of a sessions court in the Nilgiris to summon and examine Mr. Palaniswami, Ms. Sasikala, and seven others in connection with the crime reported at the sprawling tea estate jointly owned by Jayalalithaa and her aide.

The petitioners’ counsel Romeo Roy Alfred said, his clients had filed a petition before the trial court to summon not only Mr. Palaniswami and Ms. Sasikala but also the latter’s relatives J. Elavarasi and V.N. Sudhakaran; former Nilgiris Collector P. Shankar; former Superintendent of Police Murali Rambha; AIADMK State organiser Sajeevan; the estate manager Natarajan; and another individual named Sunil.

Similarly, the prime accused in the murder-cum-heist case K.V. Sayan had also filed a petition to summon an equal number of nine individuals, and the only common witness in both the petitions was the estate manager Mr. Natarajan. The other witnesses whom he wanted to examine included an Assistant Director of Forensic Sciences Lab, Coimbatore Government Medical College Hospital’s Dean, and others.

The sessions court had passed common orders on both the petitions on April 30, 2021, and permitted the examination of only three witnesses, which included Mr. Natarajan, Forensic Sciences Assistant Director S. Raj Mohan, and an Assistant Engineer of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Kodanad Division. The request to summon and examine all the others was rejected on various grounds.

Observing that the three accused in the murder-cum-heist case had not cited any reason for summoning and examining Mr. Palaniswami, Ms. Sasikala, and her relatives, the sessions court wrote: “Mr. Palaniswami being the present Chief Minister of the State, the accused cannot just like that abuse the process of the court to summon the Chief Minister as a defence witness without any relevancy.”

After perusing the sessions court’s order and taking note that Mr. Palaniswami was not the Chief Minister anymore, Justice Velmurugan reserved his orders on the criminal revision petition. Earlier, when the judge wanted to know the status of the trial proceedings at present, a government counsel replied that the police had obtained permission for further investigation in the case and that the probe was still on.