Justice M. Dhandapani of the Madras High Court on Tuesday (September 23, 2025) recused from hearing a writ petition filed by Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan challenging a 2019 Government Order (G.O.) through which a corruption case against him was transferred from a special court in Vellore to a court in Chennai.

The judge said, he had appeared for the Minister during his stint as a lawyer and therefore, does not want to hear the present case. He directed the High Court Registry to list the matter before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan as per the standing instructions approved by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava.

Representing the Minister, advocate Richardson Wilson said, Justice N. Sathish Kumar of the High Court was already seized of another petition filed by his client against the Chennai court’s refusal to transfer the case back to Vellore and therefore, the present writ petition could be tagged along with that case.

However, Justice Dhandapani said, it would not be appropriate for him to pass even that order. In an affidavit filed along with the writ petition, Mr. Duraimurugan feared the trial in the corruption case would get delayed if it was conducted in Chennai since a majority of the witnesses were residents of Vellore.

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had booked the Minister and his wife D. Shanthakumari in 2011 on the charge of having amassed ₹1.15 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2009, when he had served as Minister for Public Works Department, Prisons and Law in former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s Cabinet.