Chennai: Battling allegations of cheating, and with its founder-chairman, T R Pachamuthu behind the bars, SRM Group of Educational Institutions has offered to deposit Rs. 69 crore in the Madras high court.
An offer to this effect was made by its senior counsel on Tuesday when a division bench of Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice V Bharathidasan heard a habeas corpus petition filed by the mother of S Madhan of Vendhar Movies - who has gone 'missing' after collecting more than Rs 70 crore from 111 MBBS aspirants - came up for hearing.
A group of more than 10 students also filed a petition claiming that they had paid more than Rs 60 lakh to Madhan on the advice of Pachamuthu.
Responding to the offer, advocate R C Paul Kanagaraj, who represented the students, said instead of depositing the money in court, SRM Group could be directed to refund the money to the students themselves. To this, the judges said the source of the money too should be required investigation.
Senior counsel for SRM Group and Pachamuthu, pointing out that the latter's bail petition was coming up for hearing before the magistrate court later in the day, said pendency of the habeas corpus should not influence the bail proceedings.
It all started with the May 28 'disappearance' of Madhan, leaving behind a 'suicide note' saying he would drown himself in Varanasi. He said he had collected money from parents and students promising MBBS seats in a medical college run by SRM Group and that now he was unable to honour the commitment.
While police have registered a man missing case, Madhan's mother later filed a habeas corpus petition alleging threat to her son's life and that he might be under the custody of SRM people.
In the meanwhile, Kanagaraj entered appearance on behalf of the students seeking either refund of the money or admission in MBBS course.
It was after nudge by the bench, which questioned as to why police had not interrogated key people including Pachamuthu in connection with the admission fraud and disappearance of Madhan, that the SRM chairman was picked up and remanded in custody. Police have already moved the subordinate court seeking five days of police custody of Pachamuthu.
According to police, a total of 111 parents had lodged complaints, and the total amount involved in the transaction was Rs 74 crore.
An offer to this effect was made by its senior counsel on Tuesday when a division bench of Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice V Bharathidasan heard a habeas corpus petition filed by the mother of S Madhan of Vendhar Movies - who has gone 'missing' after collecting more than Rs 70 crore from 111 MBBS aspirants - came up for hearing.
A group of more than 10 students also filed a petition claiming that they had paid more than Rs 60 lakh to Madhan on the advice of Pachamuthu.
Responding to the offer, advocate R C Paul Kanagaraj, who represented the students, said instead of depositing the money in court, SRM Group could be directed to refund the money to the students themselves. To this, the judges said the source of the money too should be required investigation.
Senior counsel for SRM Group and Pachamuthu, pointing out that the latter's bail petition was coming up for hearing before the magistrate court later in the day, said pendency of the habeas corpus should not influence the bail proceedings.
It all started with the May 28 'disappearance' of Madhan, leaving behind a 'suicide note' saying he would drown himself in Varanasi. He said he had collected money from parents and students promising MBBS seats in a medical college run by SRM Group and that now he was unable to honour the commitment.
While police have registered a man missing case, Madhan's mother later filed a habeas corpus petition alleging threat to her son's life and that he might be under the custody of SRM people.
In the meanwhile, Kanagaraj entered appearance on behalf of the students seeking either refund of the money or admission in MBBS course.
It was after nudge by the bench, which questioned as to why police had not interrogated key people including Pachamuthu in connection with the admission fraud and disappearance of Madhan, that the SRM chairman was picked up and remanded in custody. Police have already moved the subordinate court seeking five days of police custody of Pachamuthu.
According to police, a total of 111 parents had lodged complaints, and the total amount involved in the transaction was Rs 74 crore.