File charge sheet immediately in DA case against Anbazhagan: HC

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) of the state to file the charge sheet against the former minister and AIADMK leader KP Anbazhagan and four of his family members in the alleged disproportionate assets case filed against him by the agency in January.

Justice N Sathish Kumar passed the direction on disposing of a plea by Krishna Moorthy, a resident from Dharmapuri. The petitioner prayed for a direction to the DVAC to file a charge sheet in the DA case filed against Anbazhagan and five of his family members.

“While Anbazhagan served as the minister for higher education from 2016 to 2021, his assets had increased above his income. Therefore, I lodged a complaint with the DVAC to launch a probe. The DVAC which raided the premises of Anbazhagan had declared that the former minister and family members had amassed a wealth of Rs.11.32 crores disproportionate to their income. The DVAC also booked Anbazhagan, his wife, and three others in the case in January. However, the DVAC had not filed the charge sheet till now,” the petitioner submitted.

Recording the submissions, the judge directed the DVAC to file the charge sheet as earlier as possible by the agency against Anbazhagan and others.

It is noted that the DVAC had raided several places of the Palacode MLA in Dharmapuri, Salem districts, and even in Telangana in January. After the raids, the DVAC booked Anbazhagan, his wife Malliga, his sons Sasimohan, Chandramohan, and Vaishnavee, wife of Chandramohan for amassing wealth to the tune of Rs 11.32 crore. As per the income and assets of Anbazhagan and his family members, his income should not exceed Rs.10.1 crore, according to the FIR.