The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a second letter to the Tamil Nadu government within a week, this time seeking prosecution sanction against Tiruchendur DMK MLA Anitha R Radhakrishnan. The four-page communication, addressed to the chief secretary, serves as a reminder of the agency's earlier letter sent in March to the then chief secretary on the same subject, to which the DMK government had not responded.
On May 15, ED's Chennai Zone 1 wrote to the state government seeking prosecution sanction against DMK MLA V Senthilbalaji in a money laundering case arising from the cash-for-jobs scam being probed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). The latest letter, sent by ED's Chennai Zone 2, states that the absence of a response from the state government within 120 days would be deemed consent. ED sources indicated that the agency could approach the court under the relevant provisions of the BNSS if the government fails to decide on the prosecution request within that period.
ED launched a money laundering probe against Anitha Radhakrishnan in 2024, when he was the DMK's fisheries minister, based on a DVAC FIR registered in 2013. DVAC had accused him of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income during his tenure as housing minister in the previous AIADMK regime. During its money laundering investigation, ED offered to assist DVAC in the trial and shared additional material, but DVAC resisted the agency's intervention. ED later filed its prosecution complaint and sought sanction from the Tamil Nadu governor, but the request was returned with the advice that the agency should approach the state government through official channels. With no response to its March communication, ED has now sent a reminder.
