Madras HC grants interim stay on DA case trial against Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has imposed an interim stay on the trial proceedings in a disproportionate assets case pending before the Thoothukudi court against Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan after the Enforcement Directorate submitted that despite the pendency of its petition to transfer to Madurai, the trial was continuing and sought a stay.

After being elected from the Tiruchendur constituency in May 2001, Radhakrishnan, who was then with the AIADMK, was appointed as the Minister for the Animal Husbandry Department. He held the post for a year, before his portfolio was changed to Housing Department for the rest of the tenure till May 2006.

At the time of contesting as an MLA, the total value of the pecuniary resources and properties that Radhakrishnan, his wife, and his brothers and sons possessed was only Rs 23.36 lakh as on May 14, 2001.

In 2019, when the AIADMK was in power and by which time he had crossed over to the DMK, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had registered a disproportionate assets case against him and family members. The case is presently under trial before the Thoothukudi court.

Based on the disproportionate assets case, the Enforcement Directorate initiated proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2025 by filing a complaint before the Special Court in Madurai.

Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate moved the Madras High Court seeking transfer of the disproportionate assets case from the Thoothukudi court to the Special PMLA Court in Madurai.

When the matter came up for hearing before a division bench comprising the Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, the DVAC sought time to file a counter affidavit detailing the present status of the trial before the Thoothukudi court.

The Enforcement Directorate submitted that despite the pendency of the transfer petition, the trial in the Thoothukudi court was continuing, and therefore sought an interim stay of the proceedings.

Recording the submissions, the bench adjourned the matter to April 30 and granted an interim stay on the trial proceedings in the disproportionate assets case pending before the Thoothukudi court.