Chennai, A court here on Tuesday declined to grant bail to former DMK Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in the alleged cash-for-approvals-for-schools scam, holding that a prima facie case has been made out against him in the commission of the crime.
Special Judge L S Sathiyamurthy dismissed the former school education minister's bail petition, holding that the larger public interest is paramount.
After the Madras High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail application filed by Poyyamozhi, police arrested him on October 26, 2026, and he was lodged in Chennai Central Prison at Puzhal on the city outskirts.
Rejecting the bail plea, the Special Court for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act judge cited the Supreme Court's verdict in YS Jagan Mohan Reddy vs CBI .
That verdict outlined factors such as the nature of accusations and evidence to be considered while dealing with the applications for bail.
Accordingly, the bribe/cash for approvals for schools case has to be dealt with as an economic offence warranting a different approach in the matter of grant of bail, the judge said.
The Madras High Court, which rejected Anbil's advance bail plea, had said that he is highly influential and therefore, the police argument that his release on bail may cause further delay and could hamper the collection of evidence cannot be easily brushed aside.
{{/usCountry}}The Madras High Court, which rejected Anbil's advance bail plea, had said that he is highly influential and therefore, the police argument that his release on bail may cause further delay and could hamper the collection of evidence cannot be easily brushed aside.
{{/usCountry}}Special Judge Sathiyamurthy also referred to the SC ruling in Pankaj Bansal v Union of India that the power vested by the state in a public authority should be viewed as a trust coupled with duty to be exercised in larger public and social interest.
"Therefore, every holder of public office is a trust and any deviation from the path of rectitude by any such public servant is a gross and utter breach of public trust," the special court said in its order.
The power conferred on the petitioner, as a Minister of Education, made him a trustee responsible for the education and welfare of students, teachers, parents and other invisible stakeholders of school education.
The judge said: "But the records and the materials available on record would make a prima facie of the petitioner's involvement in the commission of crime; A1 and A2 acted as his aides in the demand and collection of monies by false representation, threat and coercion, and there are also materials to show that a huge sum reached him through his aides." Hence, the court is of the view that the "largest public interest is prime and paramount consideration" in this bail plea.
The welfare of the school children and their education prevails upon the petitioner's private interest and his right to be enlarged on bail.
Further, the investigation is in the initial stage; other named accused persons are yet to be secured by the respondent.
The process of custodial interrogation if any, of A2 , a surrendered accused, has just started by an application presented before the court by the police.
Therefore, at this stage, it is not proper to release the petitioner on bail, and the present petition deserves dismissal and accordingly, dismissed, the special court for cases under anti-corruption law said.
Opposing bail, police had said that the investigation prima facie disclosed criminal conspiracy and a common design between the
petitioner, the then minister, and the accused A1 to A4. Absconding accused Saravanan is a key aide to the petitioner, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Police had said that "...more than 177 victims/school managements have come forward and a prima facie amount of ₹17,26,73,650/- has been traced. It is a financial trail, and who the ultimate beneficiaries are is still under investigation."
The bail petition came up on October 28, 2026, for final hearing before the special judge. After hearing both sides and perusing the case records, the court passed the order on November 10.
The Madras High Court had dismissed Poyyamozhi's anticipatory bail plea in the graft case against him, holding that he faces the accusation of having received money from school managements for "party fund" and its "final destination" cannot be unearthed unless he is interrogated under custody.
The origin of the criminal case over the scam for grant of approvals to schools is following a police complaint on June 23, 2026, by
D C Elangovan, Secretary of Private School Management Association. Elangovan had alleged that about ₹100 crore was collected as a bribe through threats and forgery by deceiving the private school managements.
Subsequently, police registered a criminal case. BT Arasakumar, founder president of Tamilnadu Private Schools Association, is the first accused , and he also faces other criminal cases.
According to the references made by the court based on records, former legislator Muthukumar, who had joined hands with A1, was a close associate of Anbil Mahesh . Bribes were demanded from the private school managements by giving false assurances to obtain permanent recognition, upgradation, approval from statutory authorities, building-related permissions and other government approvals for private schools.
Both A1 and A2, along with the petitioner, conspired and demanded money, which is illegal gratification, from private schools.
The petitioner had direct interaction with representatives of some schools and had collected amounts from them on the ground that it was for "party fund." He had assured them that necessary orders would be issued on receipt of the amounts for "party fund."
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