DINDIGUL
Former Minister for Power ‘Natham’ R. Viswanathan on Monday appeared before Judicial Magistrate Court II here as directed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, and produced the copy of the anticipatory bail he obtained in a case registered against him by Dindigul police for allegedly cheating a businessman to the tune of ₹2.97 crore.
Judicial Magistrate M. Balamurugan advised him to produce two persons for surety. Later, he advised the former Minister to sign at Dindigul North police station every Monday until further orders.
Meanwhile, the defence counsel appealed to the judge to grant exemption to the former Minister from signing at the police station considering his ‘VIP status’.
The Madras High Court Bench had on March 16 granted anticipatory bail to Mr. Viswanathan on the condition that he should appear before the investigating officer once a week until further orders.
According to the complainant, A. Sabapathy, a businessman, he used to give money to people from different walks of life on the instruction of the former Minister, and get it reimbursed later ever since he got acquainted with Mr. Viswanathan. He reportedly gave the money to people during the last Lok Sabha elections. But the former Minister did not repay the money, he said.
