Chennai, Oct 26 (IANS) The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed former Education Minister Anbil Mahesh’s anticipatory bail petition in an alleged Rs 100 crore corruption case linked to the granting of recognition and other approvals to private schools in Tamil Nadu.
Justice V. Lakshminarayan rejected the plea filed by Mahesh, who was named as an accused after the prosecution added provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act to the case.
The former minister has separately approached the court seeking to quash the FIR against him.
The case originated from a complaint lodged by a former general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association against its president, B.T. Arasukumar, and other office-bearers.
According to the complaint, association representatives collected money from private schools as membership and subscription fees, promising to secure no-objection certificates, licences, recognition and renewals. The complainant alleged that these assurances were not fulfilled despite the collection of funds.
Police initially registered the FIR under Sections 316(5) and 318(4), read with Section 3(5), of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The allegations at that stage concerned the collection of money by the association’s president and other office-bearers.
The prosecution subsequently submitted an alteration report before the Metropolitan Magistrate, adding offences under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and naming Mahesh as an accused.
His anticipatory bail application followed his inclusion in the case. Contesting the allegations, Mahesh submitted that there was no material on record to establish that he had received any illegal gratification. He also argued that no specific overt act had been attributed to him to substantiate his alleged involvement.
The former minister questioned the circumstances surrounding the complaint, contending that it was lodged after the elections and the change of government.
He suggested that differences between the complainant and the association president appeared to have prompted the allegations.
Mahesh further maintained that the complaint and witness statements themselves indicated that certain individuals had collected money from private schools by using his name. This, he argued, did not establish that he had personally received money or committed any wrongdoing.
His defence thus centred on the distinction between allegations that others had invoked his name while collecting funds and evidence of his own participation. The court nevertheless dismissed his request for anticipatory bail in the corruption case.
–IANS
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