MHC quashes conviction against former minister in cremation shed scam

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday canceled the two-year sentence awarded to former minister TM Selvaganapathy in the cremation shed scam case.

Justice G Jayachandran pronounced the final order on the appeal filed by the former minister and others challenging the CBI court’s decision.

In 1997, the CBI’s anti-corruption branch had registered a case against Selvaganapathy and others, holding them guilty of causing financial loss to the government of Rs 23 lakh.

According to the CBI, the crime was committed when Selvaganapathy held the Ministry of Local Administration and Rural Development in the cabinet of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa during 1995-96.

Instead of giving the contract to the cooperative societies to build 100 cremation sheds for Adi Dravidians in Nagapattinam under the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana scheme, it was handed over to a private company and the money was also sanctioned.

However, the decision to construct 100 cremation sheds was also not implemented properly and public money was wasted amounting to about Rs. Was looted till. 23 lakh, CBI alleged.

In 2014, the special court for CBI cases in Chennai found guilty and sentenced the accused, including Selvaganapathy, when he was a DMK member of the Rajya Sabha.

The court ordered J.T. Was also sentenced. Acharyulu, former secretary, rural development, M. Satyamurthy, former director, rural development, M. Krishnamurthy, retired project officer, and T. Bharathi, were sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.

Aggrieved by the verdict, the accused including Selvaganapathy moved the Madras High Court (MHC) challenging the conviction.

The MHC accepted the appeal petitions and quashed the convictions.