New Delhi:
In a political setback to the Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court today dismissed its appeal against anticipatory bail granted to DMK leader and Union Minister MK Alagiri's son Durai Dayanidhi in connection with the multi-crore granite scam in Madurai.
The Supreme Court has upheld the December 10, 2012 order of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, granting anticipatory bail to Mr Dayanidhi, who had surrendered in court in December after being on the run for several months. He surrendered after the High Court quashed a non-bailable warrant issued against him.
Today, the Supreme Court asked Mr Dayanidhi to cooperate with the investigation. It also said that if he refused to cooperate, the Tamil Nadu government should bring it to its notice.
The Tamil Nadu government had asked the top court to cancel Durai Dayanidhi's anticipatory bail pleading that largescale illegal mining was still on in the Madurai district.
The AIADMK government began its crackdown on illegal granite quarries in the Madurai region after former Madurai District Collector U Sahayam, in a report, estimated the losses incurred from illegal granite mining at around Rs. 16,000 crore.
Mr Dayanidhi is a prime accused in the case; he and nine others have been accused of mining granite without permission. Mr Dayanidhi was a director of Olympus Granite, one of the companies under the government's scanner for illegal quarrying.
The DMK was voted out of power in Tamil Nadu last year. The party accuses Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her AIADMK of persecuting its leaders with fake legal cases.
The police say they have strong evidence that Mr Dayanidhi's company violated basic mining agreements and laws.
In September last year, vigilance officials searched 34 places in Tamil Nadu, after filing two cases against two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and a group of state officials for irregularities in quarrying.
(With inputs from agencies)