Ponmudi served as the Minister for Higher Education and Mineral Resources during the 2006-2011 DMK regime. In this period, the Anti-Corruption Bureau filed a case against Ponmudi and his wife for amassing assets disproportionate to their income.
The Villupuram Special Court, which heard the case, acquitted Ponmudi and his wife in 2016 on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence. The Anti-Corruption Bureau filed an appeal against this in 2017. The case was pending in the High Court for several years, and a verdict was delivered last December.
The High Court ruled that it had been proven that Ponmudi and his wife had amassed assets disproportionate to their income by 64.90%. The High Court declared Ponmudi and his wife guilty and sentenced them to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of ₹50 lakh each. As a result, Ponmudi immediately lost his ministerial and assembly positions.
Ponmudi filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on January 3 against the High Court’s verdict in the asset-smuggling case. In the meantime, the Supreme Court, which considered the interim petition filed by Ponmudi, exempted him from surrendering to prison. As a result, he was relieved from going to jail.
The appeal case came up for hearing in the Supreme Court today. The judge who heard the case, Justice Abay.S.Oha, ordered the Anti-Corruption Bureau to respond to the petition of Ponmudi and his wife Visalaakshi by March 4.
At the time, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Ponmudi, said that Ponmudi had been a minister and MLA. He requested that the sentence be suspended due to the approaching elections.
The judge declined the request, saying, “There is no need to hurry now. We are not going to suspend the sentence now. Let the Anti-Corruption Bureau file a reply in this regard first. Then we can see.” He also adjourned the hearing of the case to March 4.
It is expected that the Anti-Corruption Bureau will file a reply in this regard soon, as Ponmudi will only be able to regain his position if he obtains a stay order within three months. The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to be based on this. However, the opposition parties say that the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s response may be favorable to Ponmudi because the DMK government is in power.