‘I have a better job to do’: Madras high court judge on action against ministers

Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras high court refused to take contempt of court action against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) organisation secretary RS Bharathi for criticising him. The DMK leader criticised the judge for taking up suo motu (on its own) revision of the discharge of three ministers in corruption cases.

The DMK plans to move the Supreme Court in the matter.

“I have a better job to do,” justice Venkatesh said. The judge has also taken up the discharge of former chief minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) in a 2012 disproportionate assets case.

Justice Venkatesh (54) is not one to mince words and has shown to hold himself up to a certain standard too. The same is evident from the counselling he underwent to get rid of conditioning and unconscious bias, in a case where a lesbian couple sought protection from their family and police, before he delivered the landmark judgement banning the ‘curing’ of people in the LGBTQIA+ community in April 2021.

“I want to give myself some more time to churn. Ultimately in this case, the words must come from my heart and not from my head, and the same will not be possible if I am not fully “woke” on this aspect,” the justice had said at that time. “For this purpose, I want to subject myself for psycho-education with [psychologist]...”

While the justice has continued to hear the case routinely with a goal to bring about changes in the governments and society, he has embarked on a new mission to address corruption.

On Thursday, while issuing notices to OPS and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), the justice said that he believed that a trial court discharging OPS in 2012 set the pattern for the discharge of elected representatives every time the regime changed between the DMK and AIADMK.

“It is a shame on the criminal justice delivery system. DVAC has unfortunately become a chameleon and has begun to take its colours depending upon who is in power. Unfortunately, courts have also acted in tandem,” he said. “If you expect the high court to close its eyes to such systemic failure, then we will fail in our constitutional duty. A party, B party is not our headache. We have to only ensure that the system is not broken down. This case [against OPS] is the starting point.”

A graduate from the Ambedkar Law college in Chennai, he had enrolled in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 1993.