SC notice to ED on Dhaya Alagiri's plea challenging MHC order

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Dhayanidhi Alagiri's plea challenging a Madras High Court judgement refusing to quash summons issued against him in a money laundering case.

A bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Aniruddha Bose issued notice to ED on Dhayanidhi Alagiri's plea.

Dhayanidhi Alagiri, who is former Union Minister MK Alagiri's son has challenged The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court order dated December 2 2021.

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has refused to quash summons issued to Dhayanidhi Alagiri, in a money laundering case.

The Madras HC had said that the summons issued to the petitioner Alagiri cannot be treated as premature or illegal, since the petitioner is liable to face the trial both in his individual capacity as well as a person-in-charge and responsible for the conduct of the business of the Company, which has alleged to have contravened the provisions of the PMLA.

Madars HC had held Alagiri's petition devoid of merits and liable to be dismissed and directed the trial court to proceed with the complaint. Dhayanidhi Alagiri has moved Madras HC against a trial court order which has issued summons against him under Section 45 read with Sections 70 and 8(5) of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002. Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached properties of M/S Olympus Granite Private Limited and its stakeholder Alagiri Dayanidhi.

It attached the properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) after conducting investigations on the basis of an FIR and charge sheet filed by Tamil Nadu Police against the said company for "criminally conspiring and indulging in illegal granite mining activities leading to losses to the government and wrongful gain to themselves.

The charge sheet mentioned various offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Explosive Substances Act, 1908 amongst others committed by the accused in the illegal granite mining and trade carried out by the Company which made the act a Scheduled offence.