Plea in HC seeking Muthiah’s dismissal

CHENNAI, March 23: A petition has been submitted in the Madras High Court seeking the dismissal of Sedapati Muthiah, Union Minister for Surface Transport, from the Council of Ministers. The writ of quo-warranto petition, filed on Monday, called upon Muthiah — against whom corruption cases are pending — to explain on what authority he was holding the office.

The petitioner, Palai N Shanmugham, convenor of Civil Liberties Union, submitted that he was filing the public interest writ petition to bring to the notice of the court the "gross impropriety, illegality and violation of constitutional norms" in the present constitution of the Council of Ministers. The independence of Judiciary was under threat from many of the Cabinet members, the petitioner said. For instance, he explained, the reported statement of M Thambidurai, Union Law Minister, that the cases pending against AIADMK leader Jayalalitha were false clearly indicated an attempt by the executive, particularly those belonging to the AIADMK party, tointerfere with the administration of justice.

Shanmugham also stated that Muthiah was the principal accused in a number of criminal cases filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, now pending before the Special Court-I in Chennai. The charges against him related to acquisition of wealth grossly disproportionate to his known sources of income. "The other accused are his wife and family members. A charge-sheet has been filed against them and the case is posted for March 26 for recording their plea," he said.