There is no need to obtain prior sanction of the Legislative Assembly Secretariat or the Chief Government Whip before initiating criminal action against a Minister for alleged illegalities committed by him in his private capacity, the Madras High Court has ruled.
Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy held so, while disposing of a writ appeal filed by two individuals who had accused Commercial Taxes Minister K.C. Veeramani of attempting to dispossess them of a property reportedly worth ₹225 crore.
The complainants claimed that the Minister was acting at the behest of popular businessman J. Sekhar Reddy, and was threatening them to part with 6.9 acres of prime land in Vellore town. They also accused him of trying to evict them from the property using illegal force.
The complainants, B. Ramamoorthy and J. Jayaprakash, had initially filed a writ…