Chennai, October 26 — The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of former Tamil Nadu school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in an alleged Rs 100 crore corruption case linked to the granting of recognition and other approvals to private schools, IANS reported. Justice V. Lakshminarayanan rejected the plea, and a detailed order is awaited.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The alleged amount in the case is Rs 100 crore — yaani roughly one billion rupees (Rs 1 arab). According to the complaint, representatives of a private schools association allegedly collected money from schools as membership and subscription fees on the promise of securing no-objection certificates, licences, recognition and renewals, and the promises were allegedly not fulfilled. These are allegations, and the case is still under investigation.

LiveLaw reported that the case began with a complaint by a former general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association against its president B. T. Arasukumar and other office-bearers. Police first registered the FIR under Sections 316(5) and 318(4), read with Section 3(5), of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The prosecution later filed an alteration report adding offences under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and naming Mahesh as an accused, after which he sought anticipatory bail. The case is being investigated by the Chennai Central Crime Branch police, The Hindu reported.

Source: LiveLaw

Contesting the allegations, Mahesh submitted that there is no material on record to establish that he received any illegal gratification and that no specific overt act has been attributed to him. He argued that, even on the complaint and witness statements, some persons allegedly collected money from private schools using his name. He has separately approached the court seeking to quash the FIR against him.

With the anticipatory bail plea dismissed, Mahesh no longer has that pre-arrest protection in the case. The court's detailed order is awaited, and the allegations against all the accused remain to be tested in the investigation and any trial that follows.