Plea in Madras High Court seeks CBI probe into alleged disproportionate assets of Ramanathapuram MP Navaskani

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) Member of Parliament K. Navaskani, representing the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency, having amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

First Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan on Thursday (September 11, 2025) ordered notice to the CBI seeking its reply to the PIL plea. Though the petition was originally filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, it was transferred to the principal seat in Chennai as the case had been filed against a sitting MP.

K. Venkatachalapathy, an advocate practising at the Tirunelveli district court, had filed the PIL plea through his counsel on record VR. Shanmuganathan. Senior counsel V. Raghavachari appeared before the first Bench and impressed upon the need to order notice to the CBI since it had failed to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the MP despite a specific complaint lodged on September 19, 2024.

In his affidavit, the litigant said Mr. Navaskani had served as Ramanathapuram MP between 2019 and 2024 and got elected from the same constituency once again last year. Comparing the affidavits related to his assets, filed by the MP while contesting the elections in 2019 and 2024, the petitioner said, there had been an “extraordinary and steep hike” in the quantum of his assets.

“Shri Navaskani has created these considerable assets by misusing his official position. Given minimal legitimate income, he is illegally enriching himself by pilfering public money assigned to the Members of Parliament to develop their constituencies. It is nothing but defrauding the nation’s exchequer. The assets he acquired are disproportionate to all his known sources of income,” the petitioner alleged.

He also stated though it had nearly been a year since he lodged a complaint with the CBI on the matter, the investigating agency did not come forward to conduct any kind of inquiry against the MP. Hence, he sought a direction to the CBI Director as well as the Regional Deputy Director in Chennai to conduct a thorough inquiry regarding the alleged disproportionate assets held by the MP.