In an order passed on December 15, a bench of Justices PN Prakash and N Anand Venkatesh extended the interim stay and posted the matter for further hearing on January 30, 2023.
Radhakrishnan approached the Court in June this year seeking that all the proceedings against him before the ED be quashed.
As per the ED, while serving as an MLA of Tiruchendur Assembly Constituency and subsequently as a Minister for Housing and Urban Development Department between the years 2002 and 2006, Radhakrishnan acquired assets to the tune of over ₹26 crores disproportionate to his known sources of income. The case is pending before the court of Principal District and Sessions Judge, Thoothukudi.
Before the High Court, the minister argued that while the case against him was filed under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, ED filed the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on December 22, 2020, on the premise that the offences alleged in the Department of Vigilance and Anti-corruption FIR were scheduled offences under the PMLA.
However, the central agency failed to note that Section 13 of the PC Act was made a part of scheduled offences under the PMLA in June 2009.
Hence, the charge against him was not a scheduled offence when the Act came into force in July 2005, Radhakrishnan argued.
Source: Barandbench
