The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai Police has told the Madras High Court that its investigation into an alleged ₹100-crore private school approval scam revealed that money was collected from some private school managements under the label of “party fund” during the tenure of former Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in the previous DMK government, as reported in The Hindu.
The submission was made in a counter-affidavit filed before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan on Monday (12 October 2026), in response to a petition filed by Anbil Mahesh seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) against him.
The case concerns allegations that more than ₹100 crore was collected from private school managements by promising to secure permanent recognition, DTCP and CMDA approvals, and other statutory clearances during the previous DMK regime.
The CCB stated that its investigation had uncovered collections described as “party fund” from some school managements during Anbil Mahesh’s tenure as minister.
The case was registered on 27 June 2026. Anbil Mahesh was named as an accused along with private schools association president P. T. Arasakumar, former MLA Muthukumar, Suresh, Raja and others. Arasakumar was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Investigators also searched premises associated with Anbil Mahesh and reportedly seized documents.
During Monday’s hearing, Anbil Mahesh’s counsel argued that prior permission from the Governor should have been obtained before registering the case against the former minister.
Justice Lakshminarayanan questioned the DMK’s position on the Governor’s office, reportedly asking when the party had begun invoking the Governor’s powers, given its earlier stand that the office was unnecessary.
The judge declined to pass an order on the quash petition at that stage. After the petitioner’s counsel informed the court that an anticipatory bail petition would be filed the following day, the judge adjourned the quash petition to October 29, stating that he would not pass an order until the anticipatory bail proceedings were concluded.
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