Madurai: In a major setback to the AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala, the Madurai Bench of Madras HC on Wednesday set aside the orders of the lower court discharging her from a Foreign Exchange Regulations Act (Fera) violation case.
Allowing a petition from the Enforcement Directorate, Justice G Chockalingam also set aside the orders of the lower court discharging former AIADMK MP TTV Dinakaran and a relative of Saskala, TTV Dinakaran, from two FERA violation cases.
Dismissing the petitions from Sasikala, the judge upheld the orders of lower court refusing to discharge Sasikala from three other cases. Sasikala and Dinakaran have now to face trial in all these cases.
In 1996, ED registered four cases against Sasikala and two against Dinakaran under Fera. Seeking discharge from the cases, they filed petitions before the EO I court, Chennai.
The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R Dakshinamoorthy had on May 18, 2016 discharged Sasikala from one Fera case and Dinakaran from two cases, even as it declined to discharge her from three other FERA cases.
According to ED, a national bank in Chennai had given a loan of Rs 3 crore to a company based on the security of a deposit by an NRI, and Sasikala had allegedly drawn '2.20 core out of it and bought part of her holdings in Korana Tea Estate in 1995.
