CHENNAI: THE Madras High Court has suspended the one-year jail term given by a lower court to TN Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) leader Jawaharulla in a Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violation case.
Justice N Sathish Kumar, who suspended the sentence, directed Jawaharulla to appear before the trial court on the first working day of every month. The judge was passing further interim orders on Friday on a petition from Jawaharulla challenging the lower court’s order.
According to the prosecution, Jawaharulla and four others had entered into a criminal conspiracy to do an illegal act between December 15, 1997, and June 20, 2000, and formed an association to accept foreign contributions without approval from the Centre.
He opened an account with the Sowcarpet branch of Bank of India in December 1997 in the name of Coimbatore Muslim Relief Fund and received foreign contributions of `1.55 crore without RBI’s prior approval.
The additional chief metropolitan magistrate court on September 30, 2004, convicted the first three accused to one year RI with a fine of Rs.10,000 each.