RK Nagar by-polls: AIADMK files PIL against TTV Dinakaran

Chennai: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court asking it to direct the Election Commission to not accept TTV Dinakaran`s nomination as candidate for RK Nagar by-polls.

AIADMK leader Joseph in its plea stated that Dinakaran has been convicted in the FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act) case, which is still pending.

AIADMK general secretary Dinakaran is contesting the by-election to the R.K. Nagar constituency in Chennai to be held on April 12. The seat fell vacant following the demise of late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in December last year.

Dinakaran last week appeared before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate(ACMM), Economic Offences-II, in a 20-year-old case registered under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) in which the Enforcement Directorate had imposed a penalty of 28 crore on him.

In 1996, the Special Director, Enforcement Directorate, New Delhi, initiated adjudication proceedings against Dinakaran for acquiring foreign exchange totalling USD 1,04,93,313 from persons other than authorised dealers in foreign exchange, violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.