Whatever the motivations behind the action, the fact remains that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption has satisfied the special court in Chennai that there are grounds for proceeding against him. Muthiah's tenure as Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly during the AIADMK regime was not exactly distinguished, it might be recalled. If he managed to harvest almost half a crore by questionable means during that tenure, there are fairly solid grounds for prosecution.

Muthiah should have seen the writing on the wall, considered the importance of his dignity and putin his papers. It might be recalled that all the ministerial suspects in the hawala case quit their posts. L.K. Advani surrendered his seat in the Lok Sabha. Yashwant Sinha, the present Finance Minister, quit as leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly. Even Laloo Prasad Yadav, known for his remarkable ability to resist efforts to unseat him, ultimately bowed out when he was suspected of complicity in the fodder scam. Despite such precedents, Muthiah insists on clinging to office. He needs to understand that the principle of innocent until proven guilty does not apply to ministers. It detracts substantially from the dignity of high office. A minister, in fact, ought to consider himself guilty until proven innocent, particularly when a court takes cognisance of the charges against him, or risk considerable damage to his profile.

The government, too, should appreciate that its image is more important than its minister. When the BJP-led coalition came to power, it had promised that its ministers wouldvoluntarily declare their assets. It should, therefore, take an allegation of irregularities in income as a serious matter. During the hawala case, it had demanded the heads of all the charge-sheeted Cabinet members. Now, it must either drop Muthiah, pending the findings of the special court, or drop all pretensions to responsible government.

Specifically, it must resist all possible pressure from Chennai on the issue. Muthiah has already been speaking of invoking the findings of the Sarkaria Commission in order to dismiss the Karunanidhi government, under whose jurisdiction the corruption case falls. Jayalalitha has also urged her flock to petition the President to the same end. Muthiah may be right in speaking of a vendetta, but he must prove it in the court and thereby redeem his honour. The issue, in fact, is not strictly legalistic. Only the special court is competent to judge the authenticity of the charges, and that can only happen in the months to come. The BJP government is faced with a purelypolitical decision. It has to decide whether it can afford to get by without a Surface Transport Minister, or it can do without the image of the government with a difference.