CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has upheld the conviction of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam leader and sitting MLA MH Jawahirullah in a case relating to collecting foreign funds without permission from the union government.
Justice P Velmurugan passed the order while dismissing revision petitions filed by Jawahirullah and three others praying for setting aside the conviction and sentence imposed on them by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in 2011 and confirmed by the VI Additional City Civil Court in 2017.
Jawahirullah, president of the party, and Hyder Ali, general secretary, were sentenced to one year imprisonment while Nizar Ahmed and Nalla Mohammed Kalanjiam were sentenced to two years on charges under the IPC and the FCRA, in the case registered by the CBI for receiving Rs 1.54 crore without obtaining permission from the centre by floating the Coimbatore Muslim Relief Fund between 1997 and 2000.
“On reading the entire materials, this court does not find any perversity in appreciation of evidence by both the courts below and this court does not find any patent error or illegality or infirmity in the judgments of the courts below,” the judge said in the order. Stating that there is no merit in the revisions, he dismissed the petitions. However, judge granted 30 days time, in view of Ramzan, to enable them to file appeal and if they could not succeed in the appeals, trial court can secure and imprison them.