Chennai: Madras high court on Monday has quashed the preventive detention of B T Arasakumar, the prime accused in the ₹100 crore private schools’ recognition scam, under the Goondas Act. He was originally arrested on charges of collecting money from private school managements promising to secure various statutory approvals and renewals during the DMK regime.A division bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice K Rajasekar passed the order while allowing a plea moved by Arasakumar’s wife A Kokila.According to the prosecution, Arasakumar had cheated private schools through an unregistered outfit—Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association. He promised several private schools that he would secure permanent recognition, school upgradation, Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) approvals, and other statutory clearances by using his political and bureaucratic connections during the DMK regime.However, he failed to secure the promised approvals or refund the amounts collected from the schools and had allegedly swindled more than ₹100 crore. Following a spate of complaints, the police registered an FIR, arrested Arasakumar and detained him under the Goondas Act.Challenging the detention, the petitioner contended that the allegations in the case were fabricated and politically motivated. He also submitted that the representation challenging the detention under the Goondas Act was considered with a delay of 13 days.
