A Salem court has dismissed the anticipatory bail petition filed by the close aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami to evade the arrest in a cheating case. The matter and the bail rejection had become fresh tension for Palaniswami amid being surfaced with incessant furores and tussle within the ADMK. 

Mani alias Nadupatti Mani is a close aide for Edappadi Palaniswami and the former has been accused of swindling money from several people under the fake assurance of providing government jobs when the latter was the Chief Minister. Mani had used his proximity with Palaniswami and received lakhs of money with a promise of a government job. However, he neither kept the promise nor returned back the money to the respective hands. 

Recently, Tamilselvan, an engineer who is a native of Neyveli in the Cuddalore district, had filed a complaint against Mani in Central Crime Branch Salem in which he alleged that Mani had received Rs 17 lakh from him with the assurance of providing a government job. The transaction has happened during the previous ADMK regime, however, Mani has failed to keep his assurance and he didn't return the money back. Tamilselvan further said that Mani's friend Selvakumar had also been involved in the crime. 

Based on his complaint, the Crime Branch had filed a case against Mani and Selvakumar. After knowing that the case has been filed against them, the duo had absconded and still been at large to evade the arrest. Days after the complaint was filed, Mani had approached the principal district court in Salem and sought anticipatory bail. 

His petition has come to the hearing on Monday before the bench of Justice Kumaraguru. Appearing for Mani, his counsel argued that Mani has never bought the money from others and it was Selvakumar who bought the money by using Mani's name. The counsel said that Mani has no connection with the crime and sought anticipatory bail. However, the public prosecution had denied Mani's argument and said that there have been many such cases against Mani from across Tamil Nadu and he has an important role in the crime. 

The prosecution argued that Selvakumar can't receive the money without the interruption from Mani and he has several cases under investigation and no anticipatory bail should be granted. After the hearing, the court has dismissed Mani's petition and rejected his request for anticipatory bail.