Chennai, May 30:
Citing an unexplained delay in invoking preventive detention, the Madras High Court has quashed the detention of a property developer under the Goondas Act in connection with an alleged ₹43-crore apartment fraud case involving DMDK Rajya Sabha MP L K Sudhish’s wife, S Poornajothi.
The case had drawn significant attention earlier after the court raised sharp questions to A Arun, who was serving as the Chennai City Police Commissioner when the detention order was issued. In response, Arun had defended himself, stating that the allegations against him were made by “criminals and scoundrels.”
According to the prosecution, Lokaa Developers Managing Director Santhosh Sharma had entered into a development agreement with Poornajothi for the construction of 234 apartments on 2.10 acres of land owned by her at Ramadoss Nagar in Kolathur. As per the agreement, 78 apartments were to be allotted to Poornajothi and her husband, Sudhish.
Trouble began after a complaint alleged that Sharma had forged signatures and sold the 78 apartments for ₹43 crore. He was initially arrested in the case and later granted bail. However, in 2025, a fresh case was registered accusing him of cheating buyers by failing to hand over the promised apartments, leading to his re-arrest.
Subsequently, the city police invoked the Goondas Act and detained Sharma on September 22, 2025.
Challenging the detention, his daughter Varsha Sharma filed a habeas corpus petition, arguing that the preventive detention was illegal as the alleged offences dated back to the period between 2019 and 2023, whereas the Goondas Act was invoked only in 2025, after an unexplained delay of nearly two years.
A vacation bench comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan, noting that the delay had not been satisfactorily explained, set aside the detention order.
The ruling reiterates the judiciary’s emphasis on timely invocation of preventive detention laws and adherence to due process in cases involving serious criminal allega9tions.