High Court rejects anticipatory bail plea, DMK’s Anbil Mahesh arrested in multi-crore ‘fraud’ case

The Indian Express · Arun Janardhanan · 2026-10-26 11:06 UTC

The Chennai Central Crime Branch (CCB) had on September 16 searched premises linked to Poyyamozhi in Chennai and Tiruchi, including his Thennur Anna Nagar residence.

Former Tamil Nadu School Education Minister and senior DMK leader Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi was arrested in Chennai on Monday, hours after the Madras High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition in an alleged multi-crore fraud involving money collected from private schools in exchange for government approvals.

Justice V Lakshminarayanan dismissed the petition after the Chennai Central Crime Branch (CCB) argued that investigators had gathered sufficient material suggesting the former minister’s active involvement and that custodial interrogation was necessary.

In a 20-page order, Justice Lakshminarayanan observed that granting anticipatory bail at this stage would “paralyse the investigation”, particularly when investigators were still tracing the money and searching for an absconding accused. The court said the need to protect individual liberty had to be weighed against society’s interest in a corruption-free administration.

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