Anbil Mahesh’s bail plea: Special Court defers order to November 10

CHENNAI: The Special Court for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Thursday deferred the pronouncement of orders on former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi's bail plea to November 10.

DMK leader Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi was arrested on October 26 in connection with a case involving allegations of cheating private schools of over Rs 100 crore by promising to secure recognition and permissions for them. Seeking bail, Anbil Mahesh filed a petition before the Special Court for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

During the hearing before Judge LS Sathiyamurthy, senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajarathinam, appearing for Anbil Mahesh, submitted that the initial complaint alleged that Rs 100 crore had been collected by falsely claiming that bribes had to be paid to government officials and politicians to secure permissions for private schools.

He questioned the increase in the alleged amount collected from Rs 100 crore to Rs 400 crore, Rs 600 crore and even Rs 800 crore. He also pointed out that the case was based on statements given by those who allegedly paid bribes to the key accused, Arasukumar, but the police had not arrested them despite bribery charges.

The counsel argued that the police had failed to question the private school managements that allegedly paid Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh about the source of the money. He submitted that the alleged payments had been made to Arasukumar and complainant Elangovan.

Referring to the counter-affidavit filed by the police, the counsel submitted that the investigating agency had stated that all evidence had been collected. Anbil Mahesh would not abscond and would remain with his family. Further, all his electronic devices had already been seized, he added.

Opposing the bail plea, State Public Prosecutor R John Sathyan submitted that another accused, Muthukumar, had surrendered within two days of Anbil Mahesh's arrest and alleged that Anbil Mahesh had provided shelter to him. According to the prosecution, Muthukumar had collected the money, while another person named Saravanan had taken the money to Anbil Mahesh's residence. The police had video evidence to establish this, but Saravanan was currently absconding, he added.

The prosecution submitted that Muthukumar had to be interrogated to collect further evidence and that Anbil Mahesh also needed to be questioned further. "The three-day police custody interrogation had yielded fresh evidence, which required further investigation. Therefore, bail should not be granted," it argued.

Citing the provisions of the new BNSS, the prosecution submitted that an accused could be taken into police custody for interrogation for up to 60 days. After hearing, the Judge adjourned the pronouncement of orders on the bail petition to November 10.