New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted
anticipatory bail to sacked Puducherry Education Minister PML Kalyanasundaram facing charges of impersonation in SSLC exam
in Tamil Nadu, though the state opposed the relief, claiming
he would tamper with the evidence.
A bench of justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar said
Kalyanasundaram shall present himself before the investigating
officer on December 3 and, thereafter, submit himself before
the official as and when required to extend all cooperation in
the investigation.
The former minister shall also report to the district
crime branch on every Monday at 10.30 AM and shall also not
leave Puducherry without the prior permission of the trial
court in Tamil Nadul, the bench said specifying the bail
conditions.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati, who was asked by the
bench to assist the court, said the state government had
already conducted two preliminary enquiries and had collected
relevant materials pertaining to the case.
Hence, he felt that there was little scope to tamper
with the evidence. Senior counsel U U Lalit appeared for the
ex-minister.
However, Tamil Nadu's Additional Advocate General Guru
Krishna Kumar stoutly opposed the bail, arguing that the
accused was a former minister and had the propensity to tamper
with the evidence and influence witnesses.
"Public life demands that greater should be the probity
for an elected representative and he shall not be given any
indulgence," he told the bench.
Kalyanasundaram has been evading arrest by Tamil Nadu
police since the first week of November after being accused
of engaging a proxy to write his SSLC examination at a centre
in the neighbouring state.
PTI
First Published: Monday, November 28, 2011, 21:49