Chennai, Oct 14:
The Madras High Court has quashed the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy, his son Gauthama Sigamani and others in connection with the red sand quarrying scam.
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had registered a case alleging that excessive quantities of red sand were quarried beyond the permitted limits in Villupuram district during the DMK regime between 2006 and 2011, when Ponmudy held the portfolios of Higher Education and Mines and Minerals. The alleged illegal quarrying was said to have caused a loss of ā¹28.36 crore to the government.
The Villupuram district court, which heard the case against Ponmudy, his son Gauthama Sigamani and relative Rajamahendran, acquitted all the accused in April this year.
Separately, the ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), alleging that proceeds from the red sand quarrying scam had been transferred through hawala transactions and invested in companies abroad. A charge sheet in the case was filed before the Chennai CBI court in 2023.
Ponmudy, Gauthama Sigamani and others subsequently approached the Madras High Court seeking quashing of the ED case. They contended that since all the accused had been acquitted in the predicate offence, the money laundering proceedings could not be continued.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S A Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan heard the petitions. Referring to the Supreme Court’s directions and the acquittal of the accused in the underlying case, the Bench held that the ED proceedings could not be allowed to continue and ordered the quashing of the money laundering case.