The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court today granted anticipatory bail to BJP candidate for Srirangam assembly bypoll, M.Subramaniam, and three others against whom a cheating case had been filed in 2011.
Justice P.N.Prakash, who imposed conditions while granting anticipatory bail, wondered why police were taking action just before the February 13 bypoll when the complaint againt them was filed in 2011.
Tiruchirappalli Police had filed a case under various IPC Sections, including Section 420(cheating), on a complaint from one Baskar, a representative of M/s Precision Medic(P)ltd, a software company.
Apart from Subramaniam, an educationist, principals of three engineering colleges run by him in Tiruchirappalli district, had also sought anticipatory bail.
Subramaniam had filed the anticipatory bail plea in October last apprehending arrest in the cheating case.
The judge directed the BJP candidate to sign before the Inspector of Police of the Tiruchirappalli City Crime branch for two weeks but said he could fulfill his condition after the elections were over.
However, he directed three others to sign from the date of receipt of the order for two weeks.
The petitioners alleged that police were trying to revive a case which they had closed already on the basis of the same complaint, given as a new one, with a view to arresting them.
According to the petitioners, the Tiruchi City Crime Branch police had booked the case against them on the basis of a complaint lodged by the firm accusing them of not paying Rs.1.13 crore towards software training provided to students of the three colleges since 2007.
The company had been closed in 2012. But with the intention to grab money, the complainant had now come with such false delayed claim, they submitted.
The new complaint had been made for Rs.1,13,91,857 though originally it was Rs.1,06,68,146, they claimed.
