New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Minister of Higher Education Dr. K Ponmudi and his wife have been sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined Rs 50 lakh in a corruption case.
According to Indian media, the Madras High Court also set aside a trial court’s order two days earlier to convict Education Minister Ponmudi and his wife for holding disproportionate assets of Rs 1.75 crore. was declared clear.
The High Court judge declared the judgment of the trial court to be clearly erroneous, making the case fit for intervention by the Appellate Court.
The execution of senior education minister Ponmudi’s three-year jail sentence is currently suspended for 30 days during which he can take his case to the Supreme Court.
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After being sentenced to prison by the court, Ponmudi resigned neither from the assembly nor from the ministry, although according to Bharti Aye, any member of the assembly is disqualified after being sentenced by the court in any case.
Ponmudi’s party, however, handed over the Education Ministry portfolio to Backward Classes Welfare Minister RS Rajkanth.
It may be recalled that this case dates back to the period of 2006-2011 when he had accumulated assets worth more than Rs 1.75 crore while being the Education Minister, which was filed in court by his rival.
