CHENNAI: The special court for Prevention of Corruption Act cases has deferred to November 10 its orders on the bail petition filed by former minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi. The case pertains to an alleged scam involving the issuance of government approvals for private schools.
Special court judge L S Sathiyamurthy’s decision came after the completion of arguments by senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam, appearing for Anbil Mahesh, and Public Prosecutor (PP) R John Sathyan, representing the prosecution.
The State PP submitted that Mahesh had a close nexus with accused Arasakumar and V Muthukumar, who had surrendered within two days of Mahesh’s arrest. He said a person named Saravanan had brought money to Anbil Mahesh’s residence. The police have collected the video evidence. Saravanan is currently absconding. The GO extending the recognition period to 20 years was intended to fleece private schools. A probe has disclosed that up to Rs 400 crore had been collected, he added.
As the custodial interrogation of Muthukumar and further interrogation of Anbil Mahesh are required, the bail cannot be granted, he contended.
Mahesh’s counsel said the allegations levelled against his client are “false” and “uncorroborated”, questioning the veracity of the video the prosecution claims is proof of the DMK leader taking money. “The video was shot by the person (Saravanan) himself and uploaded on social media. The prosecution is relying on it, but it does not show even the face of the former minister,” he told the court.
Pointing out the prosecution’s allegation that GOs 51 and 96 were issued with an intention to collect money, he questioned, “Even if it is assumed so, why has the present government not withdrawn these GOs until now?” He said the alleged bribe amount, as projected by the prosecution, is rising every day from Rs 100 crore to Rs 800 crore.
Noting that the FIR initially was registered against Arasakumar as if he had promised private schools unconditional recognition and allegedly collected money, the counsel contended that such allegations cannot be attributed to the former minister.