In a setback to Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader and Papanasam Assembly MLA M.H. Jawahirullah, the Madras High Court upheld the conviction and one-year jail sentence awarded to him in a case related to receiving foreign funds without proper permission from the government in 1997.
Madras High Court Justice P. Velmurugan, however, directed the CBI not to execute the trial court order until the end of the Ramzan fasting month. The HC bench, on March 14, dismissed a criminal revision petition filed by Jawahirullah in 2017 and refused to interfere with the conviction and one-year sentence imposed on him by a trial court in 2011 in a foreign funds receipt case. There were two cases—one by the IT department and another by the CBI—which were initiated during the NDA regime led by PM Vajpayee.
Justice P Velmurugan also dismissed the criminal revision petitions filed by co-accused S Hyder Ali, GM Sheik, and Nalla Mohammed Kalanjiam. The revisions had been filed against the conviction and sentences imposed on them by an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) in Chennai in 2011, which were later confirmed by a sessions court in 2017.
The case dates back to 1997, when Rs 1.54 crore in funds from abroad was received without prior permission from the concerned authorities. The funds were meant to offer relief to Muslims in the aftermath of the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts.
The CBI filed charges against the accused in 2001, alleging that they conspired to receive foreign contributions amounting to Rs 1.54 crore under the banner of the Coimbatore Muslim Relief Fund (CMRF) without obtaining the necessary approvals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or the Central Government. The CBI stated, “Between 15 December 1997 and 6 June 2000, the accused allegedly set up an unregistered association to receive and deposit these funds in a bank account at the Bank of India’s Sowcarpet branch in Chennai. These actions were in violation of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 1976.” The case was under trial in the Chennai Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court. After years of legal proceedings, the court handed him a one-year jail term following confirmation of the illegal receipt of funds.
Accordingly, the CBI booked the petitioners in 2001 on the charge of having entered into a criminal conspiracy to receive foreign funds amounting to Rs 1.54 crore in the name of CMRF without obtaining the necessary authorisation from either the Reserve Bank of India or the Central Government.
In the same case, in 2011, Jawahirullah’s associate Haider Ali was sentenced to one year in prison, while three others—S. Syed Nisar Ahmed, G.M. Sheikh, and Nalla Mohammed Kalanjiam—were sentenced to two years in prison.
The ACMM convicted the petitioners on 30 September 2011, and a sessions court dismissed their criminal appeals on 16 June 2017. This resulted in the present criminal revision cases in the Madras HC. Jawahirullah and others filed an appeal in the Madras High Court challenging the sentence, and the hearing was held before Justice Velmurugan.
Notably, when the petition came up for hearing in June 2017, Justice N. Sathish Kumar directed Jawahirullah to surrender before the ACMM’s court. The counsel for Jawahirullah later conveyed that his client had complied with the judge’s order and surrendered, following which Justice Sathish Kumar suspended the sentence. He also directed Jawahirullah to appear before the trial court judge on the first working day of every month until further orders.
During the hearing before Justice Velmurugan, Jawahirullah’s counsel argued that no funds were received illegally and claimed that he had received funds through a registered charity to help the needy. They therefore requested the High Court to quash the sentence given by the lower court and release him from the case.
The CBI counsel argued that although there were no restrictions on receiving foreign funds, obtaining prior permission from the Central Government or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was mandatory. It was stated that since all transactions without approval would be considered illegal, this particular transaction was also deemed unlawful.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Velmurugan upheld the lower court’s decision. However, he granted a one-month stay on the sentence citing the ongoing Ramzan month. The judge reportedly granted Jawahirullah one month to file an appeal against the sentence.
Meanwhile, MMK senior leader and advocate Zainul Abidin stated that they would challenge the Madras High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court. The party, in a post on the social media platform X, announced that it would appeal to the SC against the HC order confirming the conviction and one-year jail term for its leader Jawahirullah and others.
தலைவர் பேராசிரியர் ஜவாஹிருல்லா வழக்கில் தீர்ப்பு
உச்சநீதிமன்றத்தில் மேல் முறையீடு செய்வோம்மனிதநேய மக்கள் கட்சியின் தலைமை நிலைய செயலாளர் வழ மு ஜெய்னுல் ஆபிதீன் வெளியிடும் அறிக்கை
கடந்த 1997 ஆம் ஆண்டு நவம்பர் 30 தேதி கோவையில் முஸ்லிம்களுக்கெதிராக சங் பரிவார…
— Jawahirullah MH (@jawahirullah_MH) March 14, 2025
Justice Velmurugan made it clear that the CBI could execute the trial court judgement after waiting for 30 days, should the petitioners fail to obtain either a stay of his order or a suspension of their sentence by approaching the Supreme Court through a special leave petition.
Background of Jawahirullah
Having voluntarily retired as a college teacher and holding a PhD from Madras University, Jawahirullah has a background that includes links with fundamentalist outfits. In 2023, TMMK faced outrage for erecting banners depicting the Modi government in relation to the Manipur violence. Caricatures showed PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as Hindu deities standing beside a naked woman, indirectly referring to the Manipur violence where a woman was publicly assaulted.
He also opposed the Tamil film Amaran, a biopic on Major Mukund Varadarajan, a hero of the 2014 counter-terror operation in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir. He accused the film of portraying the Muslim community in a negative light and urged political leaders to reconsider their support for the movie.
Additionally, he has been linked to fundamentalist figures, having visited S.A. Basha, a controversial individual known for his extremist activities. He has vociferously campaigned for the premature release of Muslim prisoners, including terrorists, on health, compassionate grounds, and long incarceration.
"கோவை குண்டுவெடிப்பு தீவிரவாதிகளை வெளியே விட வேண்டும்" என சொன்ன இவனுக்கு கொடுக்கப்பட்ட இந்த தீர்ப்பு…mதீவிரவாதிகளுக்கு ஆதரவளிக்கும் எல்லா நாய்களுக்கும் ஒரு உதாரணமாக அமையும் ♥️ pic.twitter.com/V2e0E9FpUB
— Sanghi Prince 🚩 (@SanghiPrince) March 14, 2025
BJP Minority Morcha functionary from Vellore, Syed Ibrahim, hailed the HC order in his post on X.
மத்திய அரசுக்கு எதிராக கோஷம் போடும் அடிப்படை வாத சக்திகளின் முகத்திரை கிழிந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது,
கடந்த வாரம் பயங்கரவாதத்தை நிகழ்த்திய தடை செய்யப்பட்ட #PFI அமைப்பின் நட்பாக செயல்படும் #SDPI கட்சி அலுவலகத்தில் அமலாக்க துறையின் சோதனை நடைபெற்ற நிலையில்,
இன்று பாரதத்திற்கு எதிராக சதி… pic.twitter.com/KEsNl0VoT8— Syed Ibrahim (@syedibrahimbabl) March 14, 2025
Regardless, even if the apex court confirms the one-year jail term (not in the near future, given the huge backlog of cases), Jawahirullah will not lose his Assembly seat. The state Assembly elections are due in the first quarter of next year. A lenient court is also likely to grant him bail if it upholds the HC order.
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