A special court for cases registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Tuesday refused to grant bail to former minister for school education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in connection with the alleged scam in issuing recognition and other statutory clearances for private schools in Tamil Nadu during the DMK government.
The special court judge, L S Sathiyamurthy, dismissed the bail application filed by Anbil Mahesh, who has been in prison since October 26, 2026.
The judge noted that the police still required his custodial interrogation as they had to confront him with co-accused Muthukumar.
With the special court dismissing the bail application, the option before the former minister is to move the Madras High Court for relief.
The Central Crime Branch of the Greater Chennai Police had registered the FIR based on a complaint lodged by Ilangovan, an office-bearer of a private school association, over the alleged scam initially quantified at Rs 100 crore.
The police had arrested B T Arasakumar in the case before securing Anbil Mahesh. Subsequently, Muthukumar surrendered before a Chennai court.
Mahesh was taken into police custody from November 2 to November 4. In the meantime, he moved the bail application.
The prosecution alleged that he had a direct role in the massive scam, which is estimated to involve about Rs 400 crore, and opposed his bail plea.
State Public Prosecutor R John Sathyan submitted that Mahesh had a close nexus with Arasakumar and Muthukumar, who surrendered within two days of the former minister's arrest.
A person named Saravanan had taken money to Anbil Mahesh's residence, and the police had collected video evidence. Saravanan is currently absconding. The government order extending the recognition period to 20 years was allegedly intended to fleece private schools, and the probe had revealed collections of up to Rs 400 crore, he said.
The custodial interrogation of Muthukumar and further interrogation of Mahesh were required, the prosecutor submitted.
Denying the allegations, the former minister's counsel, Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam, argued that the charges against his client were "false" and "uncorroborated". He also questioned the authenticity of a video that the prosecution claimed showed the former minister receiving money.
The video was shot by Saravanan himself and uploaded on social media. The prosecution was relying on it, but it did not even show the former minister's face, he told the court.
The counsel also questioned why the police had not registered cases against those who allegedly paid bribes, as giving a bribe was also an offence.
In his bail petition, Poyyamozhi maintained that he had fully cooperated with the investigation on September 16, 17 and 18 and had promptly responded to the police notice. He said he had never evaded the investigation, attempted to abscond or obstructed the probe, and undertook to cooperate with the investigation in future.
He further contended that the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea by itself could not be a ground for his arrest. He also said there was no allegation or material to suggest that he was likely to abscond, tamper with evidence, influence witnesses or otherwise interfere with the investigation.
Claiming that he had deep roots in society as a former MLA and minister, Poyyamozhi said he was not a flight risk. He also alleged that the grounds of his arrest had not been communicated to him and that no memorandum of arrest had been issued.
Citing his medical condition, he said he was suffering from pancreatitis, which caused persistent upper abdominal pain and required a specialised diet, continuous medical care and appropriate treatment. He sought bail on the ground that his condition required special care and medical attention.
The counsel also wondered why the TVK government had not withdrawn the government orders allegedly issued during the previous regime with the intention of fleecing private schools.
