File photo, March 2024: Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi when he was Tamil Nadu School Education Minister. Photo: Nilamuthalvan, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The case is about how private schools in Tamil Nadu got recognition and building approvals between 2021 and 2026, and whether money changed hands for them. A former School Education Minister is now in custody, but these are allegations under investigation, not findings. The gap between the ₹100 crore estimate and the ₹17.26 crore traced so far shows how much of the money trail is still unproven.
Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader who was Tamil Nadu’s School Education Minister from 2021 to 2026, was arrested in Chennai on Monday, 26 October 2026, police said. The arrest by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai Police came within hours of the Madras High Court refusing him anticipatory bail, which is protection from arrest granted before it happens.
Anbil Mahesh is the fifth accused in a case about money allegedly collected from private school managements as a “party fund” in return for government approvals. Headlines call it a ₹100 crore scam. The figure police have actually put before the court is smaller: about ₹17.26 crore traced so far. Both numbers are explained below. Nothing has been proved; the case is still under investigation, and the former minister denies the allegations.
What the Madras High Court decided on 26 October
Justice V. Lakshminarayanan dismissed the anticipatory bail plea on Monday. According to The Hindu, the judge accepted the argument of State Public Prosecutor R. John Sathyan that the CCB had gathered enough material to suspect the former minister’s active involvement and to justify questioning him in custody. The judge had reserved orders on 16 October, PTI, the news agency, reported.
The prosecution gave one specific reason for custody. The second accused, Muthukumar, is absconding, and an Assistant Commissioner of Police told the court in a written counter statement that Anbil Mahesh had reassured Muthukumar’s relatives that he was safe and would return at the right time. The state argued that only custodial questioning of Anbil Mahesh could reveal where the absconding accused is. Its counter also cited the size of the alleged conspiracy and a risk of witnesses being influenced.
NewsPlainly has not seen the court’s written order, so this account relies on what The Hindu, LiveLaw and The Indian Express reported from the hearing and the filings.
₹100 crore or ₹17.26 crore: two different numbers
The two figures in the coverage measure different things, and it helps to keep them apart.
- About ₹100 crore is an estimate. The Indian Express reported in September that investigators thought the total collected could exceed ₹100 crore, and The New Indian Express said police link around 177 schools to more than ₹100 crore.
- ₹17,26,73,650 is what the CCB told the High Court it had traced, “prima facie”, so far. It said more than 177 school managements had come forward as victims and that the full money trail and the final beneficiaries were still being investigated.
On NewsPlainly’s calculation, the amount traced is about 17% of the ₹100 crore estimate. Spread evenly across 177 school managements, it would average roughly ₹9.76 lakh each (₹17,26,73,650 divided by 177). That is a simple average for scale only; the court filings as reported do not say how much any single school paid. The count has also grown over time: by the second week of July, The Indian Express reported, complaints had come from 47 schools involving more than ₹7 crore.
PTI’s report gives a different scale, saying the former minister is accused of collecting money from more than 1,000 private school managements. The CCB’s figure in court was 177, and NewsPlainly uses that.
What the CCB alleges Anbil Mahesh did
These are the investigators’ claims, as filed in court and reported. None has been tested at trial.
The case centres on the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association, an unregistered body. Its founder president, B.T. Arasakumar, is the first accused, and its treasurer, Muthukumar, is the second. The CCB says the pair collected crores of rupees from school managements that wanted permanent recognition, upgrades, building permissions and planning clearances from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA).
Where the former minister comes in, according to the CCB:
- The association was formed in 2024 after a message from Anbil Mahesh passed on by his personal assistant.
- He attended its launch at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai on 30 December 2024, and video of the event shows him presenting Arasakumar and Muthukumar to a large gathering of school correspondents.
- School managements then routed their requests through the two men to be taken up at a higher level of government.
- Material gathered so far shows that money collected was handed over to the minister, the agency told the court.
What Anbil Mahesh and the DMK say
In court, Anbil Mahesh argued that there was no record showing he received any illegal payment and that he had done no overt act, LiveLaw reported. He said that, even on the complaint and the witness statements, some people had collected money from schools by using his name. He also argued that after the change of government, the complainant appeared to have fallen out with the association’s president and filed the complaint for that reason.
The CCB rejected the idea that this was only “name dropping”. It said the minister was the link at the government level through whom the schools’ demands were taken up.
The former minister has denied the allegations, and the DMK accused the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government of using investigating agencies against political rivals, Moneycontrol reported. The Tamil Nadu government had opposed bail strongly, describing the case as “financial terrorism”, according to PTI. Anbil Mahesh has also filed a separate petition in the High Court asking for the FIR to be quashed.
How the private schools case grew, June to October
| Date (2026) | What happened |
|---|---|
| 23 June | An office-bearer of a private schools’ federation files a complaint with Chennai police |
| 27 June | CCB arrests B.T. Arasakumar |
| 2nd week of July | Complaints from 47 schools, more than ₹7 crore |
| 3rd week of July | Two more people arrested |
| 16 September | CCB searches premises linked to Anbil Mahesh in Chennai and Tiruchi |
| By September | 177 complaints received, the CCB tells the High Court |
| 16 October | High Court reserves orders on his anticipatory bail plea |
| 26 October | Bail plea dismissed; Anbil Mahesh arrested the same day |
Reports differ on who the complainant is. The Hindu and The Indian Express name the secretary of a federation of private school associations, while LiveLaw and PTI describe a former general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association. NewsPlainly has not named the complainant.
The charges in plain words
The FIR was first registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India’s main criminal code, LiveLaw reported: section 318(4), which covers cheating that leads someone to hand over property, and section 316(5), which covers criminal breach of trust by people in positions such as public servants or agents, read with section 3(5) on acts done by several people with a common intention.
Later the prosecution asked the Metropolitan Magistrate to add sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which deal with a public servant taking an undue advantage and with abetting such an offence, and to name Anbil Mahesh as an accused. PTI also reported that the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigates money laundering, has registered its own case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to follow the money.
What happens next in the Anbil Mahesh case
After an arrest, police must produce the accused before a magistrate, who decides whether to send him to judicial custody or to police custody for questioning. The reports read by NewsPlainly did not say when that would happen or whether the CCB would seek police custody.
Two other legal tracks remain open: his petition to quash the FIR, and the ED’s money laundering case. Muthukumar, the second accused, is still absconding, according to the agency’s account in court; the CCB says more could come out only once he is found.
Frequently asked questions
Why was Anbil Mahesh arrested?
The Chennai CCB arrested him on 26 October 2026 in a case over money allegedly collected from private school managements as a 'party fund' for approvals while he was School Education Minister. He is the fifth accused and denies the allegations.
Is it a ₹100 crore scam?
₹100 crore is investigators' estimate. In court, the CCB said it had traced ₹17,26,73,650 so far, from more than 177 school managements that came forward.
What is anticipatory bail?
It is bail granted before an arrest, protecting a person from being arrested. The Madras High Court refused it to Anbil Mahesh on 26 October, and he was arrested the same day.
What is the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association?
An unregistered body whose founder president, B.T. Arasakumar, and treasurer, Muthukumar, are the first and second accused. The CCB alleges they collected money from schools seeking approvals.