The DVAC booked Anitha Radhakrishnan for amassing wealth while he was a minister for housing and urban development between 2001 and 2006.
The ED registered the ECIR on December 22, 2020, following the proceeds of the crime in the FIR against Anitha Radhakrishnan
The Madras High Court adjourned to 17 October the case of Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan, who challenged the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the disproportionate assets (DA) case registered against him while he was a minister in the AIADMK regime.
When the case came up for a hearing on Tuesday, 10 October, a division Bench comprising Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan adjourned the case to 17 October at the request of the minister’s counsel for further arguments.
The ED registered an ECIR against the minister in December 2020 based on the FIR filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in 2006.
The DVAC booked the minister for amassing wealth while he was a minister for housing and urban development in the former chief minister Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet between 2001 and 2006.
The directorate had accused the minister and his family of having amassed ₹2.68 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income between 14 May, 2001, and 31 March, 2006.
The case was taken into record at the Thoothukudi Principal District and Sessions Court.
The minister and his family filed an application in the Sessions Court to discharge them from the case. However, the trial court dismissed the prayer and continued to hear the case.
The minister appealed against the Session Court’s order before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court. In 2017, it upheld the Sessions Court Order.
Challenging it, Radhakrishnan filed a discharge petition in the Supreme Court, which is pending.
Meanwhile, the ED registered the ECIR on 22 December, 2020, following the proceeds of the crime in the FIR against the minister.
Challenging the ED’s move, the minister filed a case before the Madras High Court contending that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) could not be incorporated in the case as the act had come into force only on 1 July, 2005
Also, pointing out that Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was made a part of the scheduled offences under the PMLA only in June 2009 and it was not a scheduled offence when the latter Act came into force in July 2005, the minister sought to quash the case filed by the ED.
On 29 June, 2022, the Madras High Court ordered an interim stay on the FIR filed by the ED against the minister.
Further, observing that substantial legal issues had been raised in the matter, the high court extended the interim stay in the subsequent hearings.
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