Who Is DMK's Jagathrakshakan, The MP Who Has Come Under IT Scanner Again?

The Income Tax Department is carrying out searches at the 40 premises linked to DMK MP S Jagathrakshakan in Chennai on Thursday.

S Jagathrakshakan's residence, office in Arakkonam constituency in Adyar, a private hospital near Poonamallee, and a hotel in T Nagar along with other properties owned by him are under scanner, according to media reports.

This is not the first time that the I-T department has carried out raids on DMK MP's properties belonging to him. In 2016, the department had conducted raids on 40 premises of the former Union minister of state for commerce at three places in Puducherry and 37 in Tamil Nadu, mostly in and around Chennai.

Who is S Jagathrakshakan?

Jagathrakshakan has a wide-ranging business empire encompassing education, distillery, and hospitality sectors.

Jagathrakshakan is involved in managing various educational institutions, such as Bharat University (a deemed private university), Sree Balaji Medical College, and Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences (located in Puducherry). Additionally, he is engaged in the alcohol business, with Elite Distilleries Pvt Ltd being owned by the Jagathrakshakan family.

Political Journey

Jagathrakshakan forayed politics in 1980 by getting elected to the Tamil Nadu State Assembly from the Uthiramerur constituency on the ADMK ticket. Four years later, he entered Parliament by defeating DMK's MV Ramu. He assumed the role of Leader of the ADMK Parliamentary Party for the next few years.

In 1989 assembly polls, he lost from the Uthiramerur constituency following the ADMK split and he sided with the party headed by MG Ramachandran's wife Janaki. In 1999, he contested from Arakkonam Lok Sabha constituency and defeated the Congress candidate KV Thangkabalu. During this tenure, he contributed as a member of the Committee of External Affairs and Human Resources Development, and later as a member of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises from 2000.

The year 2009 brought further success as he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the third time. Following this, he held significant positions, serving as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting from June 2009 to October 2012. Subsequently, he took on additional roles, holding the position of Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy from October 2012 to November 2013, and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry from November 2012 to March 2013.

In 2014, he lost to the AIADMK candidate KN Ramachandran. In 2019, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Arakkonam Lok Sabha constituency.

Controversies

His name was dragged into the Coalgate scam in 2013 which had rocked the Manmohan Singh government. There were allegations that he used political influence to obtain illicit coal allocation for his company in 2007.

During the period from 2009 to 2011, he allegedly accumulated assets, soaring from 5 Crore to a staggering 70 crore, marking the highest percentage increase in assets among all ministers in the central cabinet.

In 2016, the Income Tax authorities conducted raids on multiple residences and business establishments owned by Jagathrakshakan. Reportedly, they seized over Rs 20 crore of unaccounted money during the raids, including Rs 5 crore in cash found at one of his residences. These raids were prompted by specific information indicating that the former Minister had evaded Income Tax amounting to more than Rs 200 crore.

However, the Madras High Court in 2020 quashed the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the DMK MP. The division bench of Justices P N Prakash and RMT Teekaa Raman quashed the proceedings registered by the ED in June 2020 on the basis of two First Information Reports (FIRs) of the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), while allowing a petition from the Arakkonam constituency MP. The charge against Jagathrakshakan was that he allegedly usurped the properties of Chrome Leather Factory in Chromepet.

Sting Operation

In 2009, a sting video showed an administrative officer named Johnson from a Chennai medical college, where S Jagathrakshakan served as the chairman, was caught offering an MBBS seat for Rs 20 lakh. Johnson can be heard stating, "The Minister instructs us to charge a minimum of 20 lakh." according to a report in The Economic Times. However, he had distanced himself from the institution.