A division bench, comprising, Justices C Nagappan and M Sathyanarayanan, upheld Justice K Chandru's order on June 26, 2012, which dismissed Duraimurugan's prayer not to include his wife's income as his income.
Duraimurugan has submitted a case has been registered by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vigilance and Anti Corruption, Vellore, for various offences under Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of his income during 2006-11, when he was Minister for Public Works and Law, amounting to Rs 1.41 crore.
After the respondent issued a final opportunity notice to him on April 25, 2012, Duraimurugan filed a writ petition in the High Court, challenging the order, which was dismissed by a single judge in June last.
Contending that his wife had independent sources of income and she was an IT assesse for the past 33 years and her accounts have been properly audited and reports periodically sent to the IT department, he said clubbing of all property, including that of his wife, in one list and issuing a common statement is a mala fide attempt of the respondent aimed only at tarnishing his image and to show a boosted figure.
After hearing his writ appeal, the bench said "the court is of the view that there is no error apparent or illegality in the impugned order dismissing the writ petition."
"The single judge rightly held that the exact amount of wealth possessed by an accused and whether the wealth is independently owned by his near relative is an issue which will have to be tried essentially in a trial and the burden lies on the public servant to satisfy the court that the excess wealth possessed by him is attributable to know sources," they said.
