Even as speculation is rife about the identity of the Union Minister who tried to influence Justice R Reghupathi of the Madras High Court in a case, Opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Thursday alleged that the doctor-son duo, against whom cases of marksheet tampering have been registered, were close to Union IT and Telecom Minister A Raja.

Dr C Krishnamurthy and his son Kiruba Sridhar, a medical student of a private college in Puducherry, are accused of tampering mark-sheet to secure pass mark for a paper, in connivance with a middleman and varsity staff.

“Though the honourable judge refrained from naming the Union Minister, it does not require superhuman intelligence to conclude that it was none other than the telecom scam-tainted A Raja,” said Jayalalithaa in a strongly-worded statement, detailing the connections that the Minister allegedly had with Krishnamurthy.

According to Jayalalithaa, Krishnamurthy, who like Raja was from Perambalur district, was allegedly one of the several people who benefited from Raja’s elevation as a minister during the last five years.

Before becoming a Cabinet member, Raja had his advocate’s office in a building owned by Krishnamurthy, said Jayalalithaa, adding that the latter had also floated a real estate company, Kovai Shelters Promoters India Pvt. Ltd, at the behest of the minister.

“Raja made investments in the company through his nephew R Sridhar and nieces R Anandabhuvaneswari and R Santhanalakshmi, each with 15 per cent stake in the firm,” she alleged.

The business empire owned by the doctor and his wife Selvakumari included finance companies and petrol bunks in Coimbatore, several acres of land in Perambalur, sand and granite quarrying contracts, and even business interests in Mumbai, which, according to Jayalalithaa, were obtained after the infamous telecom scam.

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