CCB arrests Anbil Mahesh after HC rejects bail plea in Rs 100-crore pvt school fraud case

CHENNAI: Anil Mahesh, former School Education Minister, was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai Police on Monday evening (October 26) in the alleged Rs 100-crore corruption case involving renewal of licenses to private schools in Tamil Nadu. He was arrested at an apartment in Chennai’s Aminjikarai after Justice V Lakshminarayanan of the Madras High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea earlier in the day.

The case against Mahesh was registered based on a complaint by DC Elangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, alleging that Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association president BT Arasukumar and other office-bearers collected several crores from private schools by promising to secure permanent recognition, licences, school upgradation approvals, clearances from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) and other statutory permissions during the previous DMK regime, when Anbil Mahesh was the School Education Minister (2021-2026).

According to the investigating agency, 177 private schools have been identified in connection with the alleged collection of at least Rs 100 crore. The money was allegedly collected in the guise of "party funds", with assurances that the schools’ pending applications for government approvals would be cleared.

The FIR was initially registered under Sections 316(5) [criminal breach of trust] and 318(4) [cheating], read with Section 3(5), of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Later, the prosecution filed an alteration report before the Metropolitan Magistrate seeking to include Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and array Anbil Mahesh as an accused.

After being named as an accused in the case, the DMK leader had approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash the FIR.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe the suspected financial trail related to the alleged scam.

(With inputs from Bureau)