Madras High Court confirms conviction, one year sentence imposed on M.H. Jawahirullah 

Madras High Court dismisses criminal revision petition of Papanasam MLA Jawahirullah in foreign funds receipt case.

The Madras High Court on Friday (March 14, 2025) dismissed a criminal revision petition filed by Papanasam MLA and the president of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) M.H. 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.

Justice P. Velmurugan also dismissed the criminal revisions filed by the co-accused S. Hyder Ali, G.M. Sheik and Nalla Mohammed Kalanjiam. The revisions had been filed against the conviction and sentences imposed on them by an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai in 2011 and confirmed by a sessions court in 2017.

After the pronouncement of the verdict, the judge accepted a request made by the petitioner’s counsel to restrain the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from executing the trial court’s verdict for a period of 30 days since the holy month of Ramzan was ongoing and all the petitioners were on fasting.

Justice Velmurugan made it clear that the CBI could execute the trial court judgement, after waiting for 30 days, if the petitioners fail to obtain either a stay of his order or suspension of their sentence by approaching the Supreme Court by way of a special leave petition.

The CBI had booked the petitioners in 2001 on the charge of having entered into a criminal conspiracy to receive foreign funds to the tune of ₹1.54 crore in the name of Coimbatore Muslim Relief Fund without obtaining necessary authorisation either from the Reserve Bank of India or the Central government.

The ACMM had convicted the petitioners on September 30, 2011 and a sessions court had dismissed their criminal appeals on June 16, 2017 leading to the present criminal revision cases.