Lower court acquits DMK Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan & family in 20-year-old assets case

CHENNAI: A Thoothukudi district court on Tuesday acquitted former DMK Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan, his wife, three sons and two brothers in a disproportionate assets case, holding that the evidence was insufficient to prove the charges.

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), Thoothukudi, registered the case in 2006, when the DMK came to power, alleging that he had accumulated assets worth Rs 2.07 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income. The prosecution alleged that he amassed the wealth between 2001 and 2006, during the AIADMK regime, when he was a minister. He later joined the DMK.

The DVAC booked seven people in this case: Anitha Radhakrishnan, his wife Jeyakanthi, sons Anantha Padmanabhan, Anantha Ramakrishnan and Anantha Maheswaran, and brothers Shanmuganathan and Sivanandathan.

The trial was held before the Thoothukudi District Court. After examining and cross-examining 108 witnesses, the court heard from Anitha Radhakrishnan and his family, who appeared at about 4 pm on Tuesday.

Judge Suba Devi acquitted all seven accused, observing that the DVAC and the prosecution had failed to establish the charges.

The case, pending for nearly 20 years, has ended with the acquittal of all the accused.