TN govt to appeal Ponmudy acquittal in ₹28.37 crore red sand mining case, ED Madras HC told

Former minister K. Ponmudy. | Photo credit: M.VEDHAN

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has informed the Madras High Court that the Tamil Nadu government will file an appeal against the acquittal of former DMK minister K. Ponmudy, his son Gowtham Sigamani and five others in the ₹28.37 crore red sand mining case.

Appearing before a first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, ED Special Public Prosecutor P. Sidharthan said the state government had written to the central agency expressing its decision to file an appeal against the acquittal.

The judges directed the SPP to file a detailed counter-affidavit within two weeks to a number of writ petitions filed by acquitted individuals to quash the proceedings initiated by the ED against them under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in the red sand mining case.

In his plea, Mr. Ponmudy said the Villupuram District Crime Police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against him, his son and others on September 23, 2012. The case was registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Mines and Minerals Act.

The charge against them was that when Mr Ponmudy served as Minister for Mines and Mineral Resources from 2007 to 2011, he entered into a criminal conspiracy to grant licenses to his son, his friend, Mr Sigamani’s brother-in-law and others to mine red sand.

The charge sheet alleged that the licensees extracted red sand beyond the permitted amount without paying transportation charges to the state government. By doing so, they caused a loss of ₹ 28.37 crore to the exchequer and this act led to them making a corresponding ill-gotten gain.

However, after a full-fledged trial, the Villupuram Principal District and Sessions Court acquitted all seven of them on 2 April 2026, with the prosecution failing to establish any nexus between the grant of the quarry lease and the alleged illegal gain or conspiracy.

The trial court also noted that the prosecution failed to prove allegations of conspiracy or abuse of office against the former minister. It also concluded that the figures for alleged revenue losses were speculative, unsupported by primary data, Mr Ponmudy told the High Court.

Now that all the seven accused have been acquitted of the predicate offence, the ED will have nothing left to pursue prosecution on money laundering charges in connection with the case, he said, urging the High Court to quash the PMLA proceedings pending before the Chennai Sessions Court.

Published – 27 Sep 2026 0:41 IST