Published Oct 14, 2026 | 12:27 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 14, 2026 | 12:27 PM
Former Tamil Nadu Minister Ponmudy. (X)
The Madras High Court on Tuesday, 13 October, has quashed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against former Tamil Nadu minister K Ponmudy and others in connection with the red sand mining irregularities case.
The case stemmed from allegations that excessive red sand was mined in Villupuram district between 2006 and 2011, when Ponmudy was the Minister for Higher Education and Mines in the DMK government, causing a loss of ₹28.36 crore to the state exchequer.
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had registered a case against Ponmudy, his son Gauthama Sigamani and relative Rajamahendran, among others. In April, a Villupuram district court acquitted all the accused in the case.
Subsequently, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), alleging that proceeds from the illegal red sand mining were transferred through hawala transactions and invested in overseas companies. The ED filed a chargesheet before the Chennai CBI court in 2023.
Ponmudy, Gauthama Sigamani and others approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash the ED proceedings, arguing that the acquittal in the predicate offence meant the money laundering case could not be sustained.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan quashed the ED case on Tuesday, holding that the proceedings could not continue in view of the acquittal in the predicate offence, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
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The ED took proceeds of crime in a decade-old corruption case filed by the then-AIADMK government, alleging that Ponmudy abused his power while he was a minister for mines and minerals in the then-DMK regime between 2007 and 2009.
He was alleged to have used his powers to allot red sand quarries to his son and relatives, causing a loss of ₹28.36 crore to the state exchequer through excessive mining of red sand without paying a seigniorage fee.
In 2020, the ED raided the properties of Gautham Sigamani and attached his properties worth ₹8.6 crore, allegedly linked to illegal acquisition and non-repatriation of foreign exchange earnings from overseas.
The ED also alleged that the former DMK MP invested ₹7.5 lahk in the UAE and ₹41 lakh in a company in Indonesia.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Subash Chandra Bose)
