On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, Madras High Court Justice M. Dhandapani stepped down from hearing a significant writ petition. This petition was brought forth by Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan, challenging a 2019 Government Order (G.O.) that transferred a corruption case against him from Vellore to Chennai.
Justice Dhandapani clarified that his recusal was due to a past professional relationship; he had previously acted as a lawyer for the Minister. To maintain the integrity and impartiality of the judicial process, he decided it would be inappropriate for him to preside over the current case. He subsequently directed the High Court Registry to list the matter before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, in line with the standing instructions approved by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava.
Representing the Minister, advocate Richardson Wilson informed the court that High Court Justice N. Sathish Kumar was already handling a related petition. This earlier filing contested the Chennai court’s refusal to transfer the corruption case back to Vellore. Wilson suggested that the current writ petition could be combined with that ongoing case for efficiency.
However, Justice Dhandapani firmly stated that, given his recusal, it would not be proper for him to issue even an order to tag the cases together. In an affidavit submitted with the writ petition, Minister Duraimurugan expressed concerns that conducting the corruption trial in Chennai would cause undue delays, primarily because the majority of witnesses reside in Vellore.
The roots of the corruption case trace back to 2011, when the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption initiated proceedings against Minister Duraimurugan and his wife, D. Shanthakumari. They were accused of accumulating assets valued at ₹1.15 crore, disproportionate to their known sources of income, during the period from April 1, 2006, to March 31, 2009. This timeframe corresponded with Duraimurugan’s tenure as Minister for Public Works Department, Prisons, and Law within former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s Cabinet.