Chennai, Nov 3 — In a major legal relief to senior DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister Anitha R. Radhakrishnan, a court in Thoothukudi on Tuesday acquitted him and six members of his family in a nearly two-decade-old disproportionate assets case involving allegations of illegally accumulating wealth worth Rs 4.90 crore.
Thoothukudi District Sessions Judge Subha Devi pronounced the verdict around 4 p.m., bringing to an end a prolonged legal battle that had continued for nearly 20 years.
Radhakrishnan, the sitting MLA from Tiruchendur, had served as Housing Minister in the AIADMK government headed by former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa between 2001 and 2006.
The allegations concerned the acquisition of assets allegedly disproportionate to his known sources of income during his tenure as minister.
Following the change of government in 2006, when DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi became Chief Minister, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered a case against Radhakrishnan and his family members.
Investigators alleged that the former minister had accumulated assets worth approximately Rs 4.90 crore beyond his legitimate income during the period under scrutiny.
Besides Radhakrishnan, those named in the case included his wife Jayanthi, sons Anantha Padmanabhan, Anantha Ramakrishnan and Anantha Maheswaran, and his brothers Shanmuganandhan and Sivanandhan.
The case subsequently came before the Thoothukudi District Sessions Court, where proceedings continued for several years.
During the trial, the prosecution presented documentary evidence and examined witnesses in support of its allegations. The court also completed the cross-examination of witnesses before reserving the matter for judgment.
The case had attracted considerable political attention because of Radhakrishnan's association with both major Dravidian parties during different stages of his political career. The court had earlier scheduled November 3 for pronouncing its verdict.
Following Tuesday's acquittal, Radhakrishnan's supporters gathered in Thoothukudi and Tiruchendur to celebrate the outcome.
Party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets, describing the judgment as a significant victory for the veteran politician.
The verdict marks the conclusion of one of the longstanding corruption cases involving a prominent Tamil Nadu political leader.