FERA case: HC grants more time to Dhinakaran to cross-examine witness

The Madras High Court today extended the time granted to sidelined AIADMK deputy chief TTV Dhinakaran to complete cross examination of a prosecution witness in a two-decade-old FERA case against him in the trial court here.
Passing orders on a miscellaneous petition by Dhinakaran, Justice M S Ramesh granted him time till September 11.
The court had earlier granted time till today for the cross-examination of the witness in the the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court at Egmore, which had framed charges against Dhinakaran on August 1.
Stating that the prosecution had produced the witness only on August 28, Dhinakaran yesterday filed the petition in the high court seeking extension of the time limit.

When the matter came up for hearing, Dhinakaran's senior counsel B Kumar submitted that in view of voluminous documents and a number of witnesses in the case, it might not be possible to complete the cross examination within such a short period and hence sought more time.
Noting that prosecution had produced the witness only on August 28, the Judge in his order granted further time till September 11 to complete the cross examination.

He also directed the respondents (Enforcement Directorate) to ensure the appearance of the witness.
The ED has registered the case against Dhinakaran in 1996 charging him with acquiring 1.04 crore US dollars in foreign exchange without obtaining prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India in violation of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA).

According to the ED, he had allegedly deposited the amount in the current account of Dipper Investments Limited, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and having account with Barclays Bank, Sutton, UK.
Though registered in 1996, the ED could not proceed ahead with the case due to several rounds of litigation.
Dhinakaran was discharged from the case earlier by the lower court, but onFebruary 1this year, the high court had set it aside allowing a revision petition filed by the ED.