A Chennai special court on Monday granted three days of police custody to former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in a ₹100 crore private schools recognition cheating case, allowing the Chennai Central Crime Branch to question him under court-monitored safeguards.
Special judge L S Sathyamorthy permitted a lawyer representing Anbil Mahesh to remain present during the interrogation, but directed that the lawyer stay far enough away not to hear the questions or answers. The interrogation must also be videographed, according to the court order.
The court said Anbil Mahesh could meet his counsel for 10 minutes every evening and directed the police not to subject him to physical or mental harassment. The order followed a custody application filed by the Chennai Central Crime Branch, which had sought five days of custodial interrogation but was granted three.
Anbil Mahesh was arrested on October 26 after the Madras High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. He is required to be produced before the special court again on November 4. His bail petition and a separate plea seeking the return of electronic devices seized during the investigation are scheduled to be heard on November 5.
Opposing the custody request, Anbil Mahesh told the court that he had already cooperated with the investigation. He said the Central Crime Branch had searched his properties on September 16 and questioned him for nearly eight hours. He also submitted that he had answered more than 200 questions and provided documents requested by the investigating officers.
He further argued that the custody application had been filed to obstruct his bail plea. The court nevertheless allowed limited custody, giving investigators access to the former minister for a defined period while retaining restrictions on the manner of interrogation.
The Central Crime Branch told the court that custodial questioning was necessary to establish the alleged money trail, examine properties held by Anbil Mahesh and his family members, identify suspected benami assets and investigate the alleged role of former MLA Muthukumar in the case.
The court’s order places the investigation at a stage where questions about financial transactions, property ownership and the functioning of the private-school recognition process are being examined alongside the criminal allegations. The next immediate milestones are Anbil Mahesh’s production before the court on November 4 and the hearings on his bail plea and electronic-device petition on November 5.
