Chennai: The ED has intensified pressure on the newly installed TVK government, seeking sanction to prosecute another senior DMK leader and former minister, Anitha R Radhakrishnan, in a money laundering case.
Sources said the ED wrote to the Tamil Nadu government on May 20, requesting approval to prosecute the former fisheries minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. It comes five days after ED sought sanction against another heavyweight former DMK minister, Senthil Balaji.
The back-to-back letters place Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s fledgling government under scrutiny, as it weighs action against leaders of a party he repeatedly branded a “theeya sakthi” (evil force) during the election campaign.
Sources confirmed that the Tamil Nadu government has acknowledged receipt of both communications but has yet to respond. Vijay assumed office on May 10.
In its four-page letter, the ED invoked Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), stating that if sanction is not granted within 120 days of receipt, approval would be treated as “deemed to have been given”, sources said.
Senior officials indicated that the agency had earlier written multiple times to both the Tamil Nadu Governor and the previous DMK government seeking sanction to prosecute ministers under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), now Section 218 of BNSS, citing the Supreme Court ruling in Directorate of Enforcement vs Bibhu Prasad Acharya (2024). However, no sanction was granted during the previous regime.
Radhakrishnan, MLA from Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district, is among the few senior DMK leaders to retain political relevance after the 2026 Assembly elections.
The ED launched its probe in 2020 following a disproportionate assets case registered in 2006 by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and AntiCorruption (DVAC), alleging assets worth Rs 2.07 crore disproportionate to known sources of income.
The agency filed a prosecution complaint before a PMLA court on March 28, 2025, after attaching immovable properties worth Rs 1.26 crore in Thoothukudi, Madurai and Chennai. The court is yet to take cognisance of the matter. Earlier, in 2022, the ED had attached 18 properties valued at nearly Rs 1 crore in connection with the case.
Sources said the latest communication was effectively a reminder to the state government, following an earlier letter sent on March 24. The ED had subsequently furnished additional documents sought by the chief secretary.
Political attention is now fixed on Vijay’s next move — whether his government will permit prosecution of former DMK ministers or tread cautiously in its first major test of political resolve.
