The Madras High Court has quashed the land grab case against son of former deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Stalin,  Udayanidhi Stalin. The accused is a noted film producer and son of legendary politician Karunanidhi.  An associate of Stalin, Rajasankar was also set free by the Court.  Earlier, the duo got an anticipatory bail in December 2011 after a case was registered against them by the local police acting on a complaint filed by N S Sheshadri Kumar. 

Justice T Mathivanan quashed the case against seven accused including two sons of VIPs on the grounds that the person who filed case against them was offered to withdraw the complaint in return of Rs. 1.75 crore rupees property.  This was, in fact, an out of court settlement that eventually led to squashing of the case.  Celebration atmosphere was reported at former deputy chief minister Stalin’s home when the news broke out. It was undoubtedly a major relief to Stalin as state government was reportedly very strong in this case.

Even it was said that the government tried its best to press for continuation of the criminal proceedings but to no avail.  The government was of the opinion that withdrawing the complaint doesn’t mean that the accused was free of guilt and hinted that they should be punished.  It may be recalled that the land pertaining to this case was actually 2.5 grounds house that was adjacent to Stalin’s residence.   This house was later leased to Udayanidhi Stalin’s film unit. (Phani)