The Madras High Court on Monday quashed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Tamil Nadu minister I. Periyasamy.
The matter traces back to 2008, when Periyasamy served as Housing Minister during the DMK government. He had issued orders allotting housing plots in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, under the state’s discretionary quota to a few individuals, including Parveen, wife of IPS officer Jafarsait.
Alleging irregularities in the allotment, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered a case in 2013 during the AIADMK regime against Periyasamy, Jafarsait and five others. Courts later quashed the proceedings against all the accused except Periyasamy.
Subsequently, Periyasamy approached the Chennai special court for cases involving MPs and MLAs, which also quashed the DVAC case against him. However, based on the DVAC allegations, the ED registered a PMLA case in 2020.
Hearing Periyasamy’s petition seeking to set aside the ED proceedings, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Dharma Adhikari noted that the predicate case had been quashed by courts and ordered the ED case to be dismissed.
