Justice M S Ramesh, earlier today, granted the AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran additional time till September 11 to complete cross-examination of a prosecution witness. This is a two-decade old Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) case against Dhinakaran.
Current Scenario:
- The Additional Metropolitan Magistrate (EO) Court, Egmore, had pressed charges against Dhinakaran on August 1 and the court had granted him time until today to complete the witness cross-examination.
- Dhinakaran yesterday filed a petition stating that the witness was produced only on August 28 by the prosecution and hence sought additional time.
- Duly noting this, Justice Ramesh granted additional time till September 11, simultaneously directing the ED to ensure witness appearance as stipulated.
The Case:
- ED registers case against Dhinakaran in 1996, charged with acquiring US$ 1.04 crore in foreign exchange without the RBI’s permission, thus violating FERA.
- He is alleged to have deposited the said amount in the current account of Dipper Investments Limited. This company is believed to have been incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
- Due to several rounds of litigation, ED couldn’t proceed with the case much.
- Earlier, the lower court had discharged Dhinakaran from this case.
- A revision petition was filed by the ED on February 1, 2017, and the high court set aside the lower court’s verdict, thus paved the path for reopening the case.