Educationist Ishari K. Ganesh withdraws plea in Madras High Court to quash money laundering case

The Madras High Court on Monday, July 13, 2026, dismissed a writ petition filed by educationist, film producer and actor Ishari K. Ganesh in 2025 seeking cancellation of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2023 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on the grounds that it had been withdrawn.

The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea with the freedom to approach the court whenever a situation arises. The case was withdrawn after ED Special Public Prosecutor P. Sidharthan informed the court that the predicate offense against the petitioner was still alive.

The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that although the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) submitted a closure report to the trial court in 2024, the court is yet to accept the report. Therefore, he has chosen to withdraw the present writ petition with the permission of the Supreme Court in order to approach the court again after the predicate offense is closed.

The problem is about a topic suo motu First Information Report (FIR), registered by DVAC under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on September 12, 2022, against former AIADMK Minister C. Vijayabaskar (now with TVK), Mr. Ganesh, Dean of Vels Medical College and Hospital, K. Srinivasaraja, Tiruvallur district, and four government doctors (R. Balajinathan, TM Manohar, J. Sujatha and JA Vasanthakumar).

The FIR was registered based on the allegation raised by the DVAC that Mr. Ganesh of the so-called university, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS), had bribed the then Health Minister, Mr. Vijayabaskar, in 2020 to obtain a ‘fundamental certificate’ for the newly constructed Vels Medical College so that it could start admitting 150 students for the MBBS course.

Four government doctors were linked to the case because they were part of an inspection team that reportedly gave false reports on the condition of the private healthcare facility. Mr. Vijayabaskar was accused of inducing the team of doctors from the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital, Salem, to submit a fake report.

DVAC claimed that as per the Minimum Requirements for Annual MBBS Admission Regulations 2020, the ‘fundamental certificate’ can be issued only if a private hospital has been in existence for at least two years and can be converted into a teaching hospital with full functional capacity of 300 beds. It was alleged that Vels Medical College did not comply with the norms.

Alleging that the private institution was issued ‘certificate of foundation’ even when its buildings were under construction, DVAC’s FIR relied on the field verification report dated June 11, 2020, prepared by the Deputy Director of Town and Country Planning in Tiruvallur district for the purpose of building approval, to claim that the buildings were under construction during the said period.

However, after completion of the investigation in 2024, the DVAC, Mr. Vijayabaskar, Mr. Ganesh and Dr. He decided to close the case against Srinivasaraja as he could not collect any incriminating evidence against them. The agency also recommended that only ministerial action be taken against the four government doctors and decided to drop the criminal investigation against them.