Former Minister Anita Radhakrishnan, 6 others acquitted in disproportionate assets case

Tiruchendur DMK MLA Anita R. Radhakrishnan comes out of the Principal District and Sessions Court in Thoothukudi on Tuesday after it acquitted him and his family in the disproportionate assets. | Photo Credit: N. Rajesh

The Principal District and Sessions Court in Thoothukudi on Tuesday acquitted Tiruchendur DMK MLA and former Minister Anita R. Radhakrishnan, his wife, sons, and brothers in the disproportionate assets case filed against them.

The case of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) was that when he was the Minister for Housing and Urban Development in the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government between 2001 and 2006, Mr. Radhakrishnan had amassed wealth disproportionate to the known sources of his income to the tune of ₹2.07 crore in his name and in the names of his wife Jaya Gandhi, brothers Shanmuganandan and Sivanandan, and sons Anantha Padmanabhan, Anantha Ramakrishnan, and Ananatha Maheshwaran.

This case was registered after the DMK returned to power in 2006. In 2009, Mr. Radhakrishnan defected to the DMK. Subsequently, the DVAC, under the M. Karunanidhi-led DMK government, chose to close the case “due to defects in facts”.

When the AIADMK, led by Jayalalithaa came to power in 2011 again, the case was revived, and the trial was going on for nearly 15 years. In the intervening period, the Directorate of Enforcement also filed a petition to implead itself in this case. However, the petition was dismissed by the trial court.

Subsequently, the ED filed a petition before the Special Court for Money Laundering Cases in Madurai for admitting this case. It also approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court for transfer of the disproportionate assets case to the special court.

The Madurai Bench granted an interim stay on the proceedings at the Thoothukudi court, but Mr. Radhakrishnan got it vacated. The High Court Bench also ruled that the disproportionate assets case could not be transferred to the Special Court for Money Laundering Cases, Madurai.

After completing the trial, Principal District and Sessions Judge S. Subha Devi acquitted all the seven accused persons, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charge.

Published - November 03, 2026 09:05 pm IST