Chennai's Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested former Tamil Nadu school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Monday in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore private-schools scam, police said. A CCB team reached his apartment in Aminjikarai and took him into custody shortly after the Madras High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail application in the case.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine (PTI)
Justice V. Lakshminarayanan of the Madras High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea on Monday, October 26, court reporting said; a detailed order was awaited. Mahesh, a DMK leader, served as school education minister from 2021 to 2026.
Source: LiveLaw
What police allege
Police allege that money was collected from more than 1,000 private school managements in the guise of a 'party fund' during Mahesh's tenure as minister, in exchange for permanent recognition, school upgrades, Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) clearances and other statutory approvals. The CCB's FIR includes charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Enforcement Directorate has also registered a money-laundering case to probe the suspected financial trail, according to PTI. These are allegations, not findings of guilt.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine (PTI)
The case began with a complaint by D. C. Elangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu. The complaint alleges that B. T. Arasakumar and Muthukumar, who claimed to be founder-president and treasurer of an unregistered body, the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association, collected over Rs 100 crore from school managements after promising to secure the permissions, and neither delivered nor returned the money. Arasakumar was arrested by the CCB on June 27, and investigators later began probing Mahesh's alleged involvement.
Source: Times of India
On September 16, CCB teams searched nine locations in Chennai and Trichy, including four premises linked to Mahesh, and seized documents, the reports said. Court reporting noted the FIR was first registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 316(5) and 318(4) read with 3(5), and that the prosecution later added Prevention of Corruption Act sections 7 and 12 and named Mahesh as an accused.
Source: LiveLaw
His defence, as argued in court
Arguing against the case in court, Mahesh submitted that there was no record of any illegal gratification being received by him and no overt act by him, and that, even on the complaint and witness statements, some persons had collected money using his name. Further legal proceedings are awaited.
Source: LiveLaw