Poyyamozhi Tells Madras HC Only Governor Can Sanction Probe Against Him

Former Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash a First Information Report registered against him by the Chennai Central Crime Branch in a fraud case involving more than ₹100 crore.

In his petition, filed through counsel Richardson Wilson, the former Minister argued that the FIR is not sustainable because the sanction for the investigation was granted by the State government rather than the Governor. He contended that under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, only the Governor is competent to accord sanction before police can begin probing any alleged offence committed by a public servant in the discharge of official duties.

The sanction issued by the Public department through a government letter dated June 23, 2026, should be treated as non est in law and cannot sustain either the FIR or the investigation that followed, he submitted.

Justice V. Lakshminarayanan on Monday allowed an application by the Minister to dispense with production of the original copy of the FIR, enabling the Registry to number the main case. The quash plea rests on multiple grounds, including the question of sanction.

Poyyamozhi further argued that the FIR does not disclose any specific act of dishonest or fraudulent conduct attributable to him personally. He described the FIR as vague and said it was vitiated by an inordinate and unexplained delay of more than four years from the date of the original complaint.

The petition also alleged that the speed with which the FIR was registered after the change of regime in Tamil Nadu showed he was being subjected to a biased investigation as part of political revenge, a course he said the court ought not to countenance.

The former Minister also informed the court that the CCB had brought in the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act by filing an FIR alteration report before a metropolitan magistrate's court at Egmore on September 9, 2026. The alteration report stated that material gathered during investigation disclosed his role in relation to certain demands.

Poyyamozhi, however, contended that the alteration report does not state that any illegal gratification was paid to him by private school managements in the State for upgrading their schools or obtaining permanent recognition. According to him, the report does not speak of any overt act by him or any illegal gratification received by him, and the substance of the witness statements appears to be that some persons allegedly collected money using his name.