Wed Sep 10 18:10:03 UTC 2025: Here’s a news article summarizing the provided text, suitable for publication in The Hindu newspaper:
**Madurai Court Denies Bail to Mayor’s Husband in Property Tax Scam**
**MADURAI, Sept. 10, 2025** – The Principal District and Sessions Judge of Madurai today dismissed the bail petition of Pon Vasanth, husband of Madurai Mayor Indrani Pon Vasanth, in connection with the ongoing multi-crore property tax scam at the Madurai Corporation.
Judge S. Sivakadatcham rejected Vasanth’s plea, as well as a similar petition filed by P. Ravichandran, a former Revenue Assistant at the Corporation, citing concerns about potential evidence tampering.
Vasanth was arrested on August 12th in Chennai by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the large-scale fraud. The prosecution argues that the scam came to light in September 2024 after the then Corporation commissioner discovered irregularities in property tax records. Subsequent audits revealed that taxes for approximately 150 buildings had been deliberately reduced without proper authorization, facilitated by bribery and manipulated records on the UTIS online platform.
The judge stated that the alleged offenses were serious and that releasing the petitioners on bail at this stage would likely impede the ongoing investigation. “Considering the seriousness of the offences, the judge held that the petitioners deserved no consideration for bail at this stage and dismissed the petitions.”
The investigation into the Madurai Corporation property tax scam is ongoing.
First Piper 