A special court for MPs and MLAs in Chennai on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against senior Tamil Nadu Minister and ruling DMK’s general secretary K Duraimurugan, to be executed on September 15 in connection with the trial of a disproportionate assets case against him and his family members.
The case pertains to Duraimurugan (86) and his family members amassing Rs 3.92 crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was PWD minister in the then Karunanidhi cabinet between 1996 and 2001. Besides the minister, his wife, Santhakumari and son, Kathi Anand, MP, his daughter-in-law, K Sangeetha, are accused in the case. The court issued the warrant since the minister, who was due to appear in the hearing today, failed to turn up while his wife appeared in person.
When the AIADMK returned to power, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) filed the case in 2002. However, the special court in Vellore discharged the accused in February 2007. The DVAC challenged their discharge before Madras High Court in 2013 along with a petition to condone the delay.
Reversing the discharge order in April this year, Justice P Velmurugan, directed the trial court, the special court for MPs and MLAs, to frame charges and complete the trial within six months by conducting the proceedings on a day-to-today basis.
According to the legal team representing Duraimurugan, the warrant would become infructuous if the minister appears before September 15.