Assets case: TN minister gets 3 years in jail
IN a setback for the M K Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court has sent Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Higher Education K Ponmudy to three years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh in a disproportionate assets case, overturning a previous acquittal by a lower court in 2016.
Back in July, Ponmudy and his son Gautham Sigamani, the MP from Kallakurichi, were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate.
The ED has alleged that Ponmudy violated the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concessions Act during his tenure as Minister of Mines and Minerals between 2006 and 2011.
It has also accused Ponmudy of allocating an illegal red sand quarry in Poothurai in Vanur block, valued at around Rs 28.37 crore. The accusations against him and his wife in the disproportionate assets case also correspond to his tenure as Minister for Mines and Minerals in the DMK government.
Ponmudy, who hails from the state’s Villupuram district, has a PhD and even worked as a professor for a while. He was subsequently drawn towards the DMK. He became an MLA for the first time in 1989 from Villupuram.
A six-time MLA, the 72-year-old represents the Tirukkoyilur constituency in Kallakurichi district and commands considerable influence in the Villupuram-Kallakurichi belt. He is also considered the key figure in bringing minority votes to the DMK.
Ponmudy will lose his constituency and ministerial position if the Supreme Court upholds his conviction.
