The Madras High Court has granted an interim stay on proceedings in a disproportionate assets case pending before a court in Thoothukudi against DMK minister Anita Radhakrishnan.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption department filed the case in 2019, alleging that during her earlier ministerial tenure from 2001 to 2006, she amassed assets worth about Rs 2.7 crore beyond known sources of income. The matter has been under trial in Thoothukudi.
Based on the same allegations, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case in 2025 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act before a special court in Madurai. The ED later moved the Thoothukudi special court seeking transfer of the disproportionate assets case to the Madurai special court.
The Thoothukudi court dismissed the ED’s transfer petition on December 11 last year, stating it lacked jurisdiction to hear it. Challenging that order and seeking a stay, the ED approached the Madras High Court.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan adjourned the matter to the 30th and directed an interim stay on the Thoothukudi court trial, while granting time to the Vigilance department to file details on the current status of the case.
