Investigation reveals collection of ‘party fund’ during Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi’s tenure as School Education Minister, CCB tells Madras High Court

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai Police informed the Madras High Court that their probe into a fraud case involving over ₹100 crore uncovered the collection of funds referred to as "party fund" from certain private school managements during Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi's time as School Education Minister in the previous DMK government.

This revelation came in a counter affidavit submitted to Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, who is handling Anbil Mahesh's petition to dismiss the First Information Report (FIR) against him. In the filed affidavit, the investigating officer revealed that the former Minister's name was not initially included in the FIR; only B.T. Arasakumar, president of an unregistered association of private schools, and co-accused Muthukumar were listed as accused for allegedly amassing crores of rupees from school management bodies.

Only after the investigation uncovered Anbil Mahesh's involvement did the police amend the FIR, adding him as the fifth accused and charging him under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It was also disclosed that the necessary approval under Section 17A of the Act was actually obtained from the State government on September 7, 2026, rather than the claimed June 23, 2026 date.

The officer urged the court to dismiss the plea for quashing the FIR, asserting that the petitioner was attempting to create unnecessary complications to impede the investigation of such a significant crime.