Chennai, Nov 6:
A special court for Prevention of Corruption Act cases on Friday extended the judicial custody of former School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi until November 18 in connection with the alleged Rs 400-crore bribery and private school recognition scam.
Mahesh, who was arrested by the Chennai Central Crime Branch (CCB) on October 26, was produced before Special Judge Sathya Moorthy via videoconferencing from the Puzhal Central Prison upon the expiry of his previous remand period. Following a brief hearing, the court ordered that his judicial detention be extended for another 12 days.
The development follows marathon arguments heard on Thursday regarding Mahesh’s bail petition, during which senior counsel for the former minister and the State Public Prosecutor argued for three and a half hours on questions of custodial necessity, direct evidence, and jurisdictional mandates. The special court had earlier reserved its verdict on the bail plea and is scheduled to pronounce orders on November 10.