Supreme Court Praises Justice N Anand Venkatesh Of Madras HC
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-11-07 03:27:52
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Do some chief justices of High Courts think they have unlimited powers? Looking at what is happening in the Madras HC, one is inclined to think so. The Supreme Court also feels that way. On Monday, a bench led by CJI D Y Chandrachud wondered what is happening in Madras HC and how the CJ was wielding such absolute powers? The case in point was the transfer of the case against a sitting minister of the Tamil Nadu government from the trial court in one district to another district and his speedy acquittal in the matter.
About a year ago, the chief justice of the Madras HC had transferred the 20-year-old corruption case against K Ponmudy, education minister in the current DMK government, from a trial court in another district to a trail court in Vellore. Subsequently, the Vellore trial court judge acquitted Ponmudy and his wife of all charges within a year. Taking suo motu cognizance of the speedy trial and acquittal, Madras HC judge N Anand Venkatesh, who is the portfolio judge in the court to handle matters against MPs and MLAs, reversed the acquittal. Aggrieved by the order, retired trial judge N Vasathaleela, who had passed the order acquitting Ponmudy, had approached the SC. Citing her unblemished record, she said she had been condemned by the HC without hearing her. The apex court allowed her to give a representative explanation to Justice Venkatesh.
But the Supreme Court took a dim view of the goings-on in the Madras HC and praised Justice Venkatesh for his suo motu decision. It said that the chief justice does not have the power to transfer cases like this and said that Justice Venkatesh was right in reversing the earlier decisions.
It is clear that a nexus exists between the political class and the judiciary. Some judges take political decisions and they need to be called out. That is why the Supreme Court clearly said that âThank God, we have judges like Justice Venkatesh Anand in the HCsâ.
