Madras HC dismisses plea for ED probe into money seizures in TN ahead of polls

Chennai, April 24 The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the cases related to the seizure of Rs 3.99 crore from three passengers in a train bound for Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli from Chennai's Tambaram and Rs 2.85 lakh seized from a DMK office in Tirunelveli earlier this month.

The petitioner, C.M. Raghavan, an Independent candidate from Tirunelveli Lok Sabha constituency, had argued in the court that the money seized was for election funding by the BJP and the Congress candidates for Tirunelveli Lok Sabha seat, and sought action against Nainar Nagendran (BJP) and Robert Bruce (Congress).

The order by a division bench of Justices M.S. Ramesh and Sunder Mohan came after Special Public Prosecutor of the ED, N. Ramesh informed the court on Wednesday that the offences, under which the Tamil Nadu Police had registered the case on the seizure of Rs 3.99 crore, were not scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and hence, the ED would not be able to investigate the case.

The bench, which had asked the ED on Monday if the offences registered by the police were scheduled offences, also stated that a detailed order, giving reasons for the dismissal, would be issued later.

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