This is an archive article published on August 31, 2016
Medical admission fraud: SRM Group founder offers to deposit Rs 69 crore collected from 111 MBBS aspirants
Senior lawyer R C Paul Kanagaraj, representing students and parents who did not get the seats despite paying money, opposed the offer, demanding that the money be returned to the students.
Four days after the arrest of T R Pachamuthu, founder-chairman of SRM Group of Institutions, a senior counsel representing the group has told the Madras High Court that his client is willing to deposit Rs 69 crore in the court — an amount allegedly collected from the parents of 111 MBBS aspirants promising them medical seats in SRM Medical College.
However, senior lawyer R C Paul Kanagaraj, representing students and parents who did not get the seats despite paying money, opposed the offer, demanding that the money be returned to the students. The source of the money should be probed, said the court.
The case, a habeas corpus petition filed by the mother of S Madhan, Pachamuthu’s close aide and the owner of Vendhar Movies who went missing in May 2016 after allegedly collecting about Rs 70 crore from students on behalf of SRM management, came up for hearing Tuesday before a division bench of Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice V Bharathidasan. The case has been adjourned to September 15.
The case, which relates to payment of capitation fee for medical seats, mostly paid in cash without proper receipts to the management, was dragged to court after Madhan ‘went missing’, leaving behind a ‘suicide note’ saying that he was “going to attain samadhi at Kaasi.”
While Madhan’s disappearance had forced the police to register a missing case, his mother filed a habeas corpus petition alleging threat to her son’s life. The petition also claimed that he might be in the custody of SRM Group. The High Court then questioned the police on why Pachamuthu was not interrogated in connection with Madhan’s disappearance and admission fraud, forcing the police to arrest Pachamuthu last Friday.
Arun Janardhanan is an experienced and authoritative Tamil Nadu correspondent for The Indian Express. Based in the state, his reporting combines ground-level access with long-form clarity, offering readers a nuanced understanding of South India’s political, judicial, and cultural life - work that reflects both depth of expertise and sustained authority.
Expertise
Geographic Focus: As Tamil Nadu Correspondent focused on politics, crime, faith and disputes, Janardhanan has been also reporting extensively on Sri Lanka, producing a decade-long body of work on its elections, governance, and the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings through detailed stories and interviews.
Key Coverage Areas:
State Politics and Governance: Close reporting on the DMK and AIADMK, the emergence of new political actors such as actor Vijay’s TVK, internal party churn, Centre–State tensions, and the role of the Governor.
Legal and Judicial Affairs: Consistent coverage of the Madras High Court, including religion-linked disputes and cases involving state authority and civil liberties.
Investigations: Deep-dive series on landmark cases and unresolved questions, including the Tirupati encounter and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, alongside multiple investigative series from Tamil Nadu.
Culture, Society, and Crisis: Reporting on cultural organisations, language debates, and disaster coverage—from cyclones to prolonged monsoon emergencies—anchored in on-the-ground detail.
His reporting has been recognised with the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Beyond journalism, Janardhanan is also a screenwriter; his Malayalam feature film Aarkkariyam was released in 2021. ... Read More
