The Madras High Court on Friday allowed the plea of ​​three accused in the Kodanad estate robbery and murder case seeking summons of former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, and his relatives and to examine them as defense witnesses before the Nilgiris District Magistrate’s Court. .

Justice P Velmurugan allowed the criminal review petition filed by accused D Deepu, MS Satheesan and A Santhosh Samy in 2021 against a trial court order, refusing to summon the two leaders in connection with the crime reported at the area of Kodanad. , owned by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Sasikala is a close aide of the late AIADMK supremo.

Initially, the three accused filed a petition in the Udhagamandalam magistrate’s court to question Palaniswami and others to find out the truth behind the heist.

Granting the petition in part, the trial court in April 2021 granted permission to question Natarajan, the then director of Kodanad Estate, but refused to grant permission to question the former minister in chief and others. Challenging this order, the accused filed the present criminal review petitions.

Certainly, in the present case, several untoward incidents occurred after the crime, the judge said.

“For example, one of the accused died five days after the incident, another accused allegedly met with an accident and a person who worked at the bungalow subsequently committed suicide. The petitioners have sought examination of Mr. Edappadi K Palaniswami, which they believe is essential to uncover the truth The petitioner further claims that the incident took place in the bungalow of former Chief Minister, Selvi J Jayalalithaa “During her visits to Kodanad,. Edappadi K Palaniswami, who was a minister, had probably accompanied her. It is therefore possible that he knows the bungalow. The Court finds that the reasons given by the learned counsel are reliable. Considering “These facts, and in the interest of justice in order to conduct a fair trial, this Court finds that the petitioners’ application cannot be dismissed as vexatious,” the judge said.

Further, citing the testimony of one of the witnesses, the court said that it was revealed that while entering the bungalow, one passed through the office and went upstairs to the Kodanad bungalow.

On the right side was Jayalalithaa’s room, while on the left was Sasikala’s. “This testimony indicates that Sasikala was closely associated with the bungalow where the event took place. Therefore, the examination of Ms. Sasikala Natarajan as a defense witness cannot be said to be vexatious.” The judge said if the prosecution was required to question additional witnesses based on the further investigation, the trial should proceed accordingly.

Once the prosecution’s examination of witnesses is complete, the petitioners are to be given the opportunity to examine the eight witnesses mentioned in the petition, including Palanisami, Sasikala and her relatives Elavarasi and VN Sudhakaran.

In April 2017, around five months after Jayalalithaa’s death, a security guard at her Kodanad estate in Udhagamandalam was killed during a robbery at the former CM’s sprawling property.

(This report was published as part of the union’s auto-generated thread. Other than the title, no changes were made to the copy by ABP Live.)