Madras High Court judge refuses to recuse himself from hearing suo motu revision against Minister Ponmudy’s acquittal

“It is a mystery as to why the mighty State is shooting a plea of bias at this court from the shoulders of the accused,” Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court wrote on Thursday, September 14, 2023 while refusing to recuse himself from hearing a suo motu revision petition taken up against the acquittal of Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy and his wife P. Visalatchi from a disproportionate assets case on June 28, 2023.

The judge rejected the plea made by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC), as well as the Minister and his wife urging him to let the suo motu revision be heard by some other judge of the High Court since he had already made certain strong remarks. He said that the mere expression of a strong view at the stage of ordering notices on the suo motu revision would not be enough to raise a plea of bias.

“The test of a reasonable likelihood of bias must be assessed in the light of the oath of office taken by the judge to administer justice without fear or favour, affection or ill will and his ability to carry out the oath by reason of his training and experience, whereby he is in a position to disabuse his mind of any irrelevant personal belief or predisposition or unwarranted apprehensions,” Justice Venkatesh wrote. 

He quoted the England and Wales Court of Appeal to have said in a 2007 judgment that “a fair-minded observer would know that judges are trained to have an open mind and that judges frequently do change their minds during the course of any hearing. The business of this court would not be done if we were to recuse ourselves for entering the court having formed a preliminary view of the prospects of success of the appeal before us.”