The Egmore magistrate court headed by Judge Malarmathi on Thursday ordered the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran to appear for questions in connection with the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) case against him on April 18 and 19.
Earlier in the week, the Madras High Court refused to defer Dinakaran's trial in a money laundering-cum-foreign exchange violation case till April 12.
Justice R. Mahadevan said that the court was neither staying nor deferring the trial against Dinakaran in the Economic Offences Court-II.
Justice Mahadevan agreed with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) counsel's submission that in the absence of an interim stay, the lower court was free to go ahead with Dinakaran's trial on April 10.
The judge denied reprieve to Dinakaran while hearing his petition against the court's order which had refused to defer his trial by six weeks.