Jagathratchakan and the art of juggling politics, business and scams

On a flight from Chennai to Delhi many years ago, this writer happened to sit next to S. Jagathratchakan, a member of Parliament from Arakkonam Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu. The MP, dressed in his trademark white shirt and dhoti, was on his way to attend Parliament. He neither introduced himself nor asked what his fellow passenger did for a living. 

During the entire two-and-a-half-hour flight he freely chatted about various issues including the politics of the day, the country’s education system, and how the current generation was very different from the previous one. When the flight landed in Delhi, he said goodbye with folded hands and quietly left. There were no airs around him. It is this quality that has helped him thrive both in business and politics.

It is difficult to describe the 76-year-old Jagathratchakan. This four time-time Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP from Arakkonam is more a businessman than a politician. You will not see him making too many political statements, taking potshots at rivals or giving a rabble-rousing speech.

He was a Union minister between 2009 and 2013 in the second Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government—first as a minister of state for information and broadcasting and then as a minister of state for commerce and industry. Very few remember his performance as a minister, but he’s better known for the scams he was allegedly involved in.

On the other hand, Jagathratchakan’s business grew rapidly. Between 2009 and 2011, his assets grew 12 times, from ₹5 crore to ₹70 crore—the highest increase in assets among all central ministers. This had raised a lot of eyebrows then. Political pundits in Tamil Nadu who have seen Jagathratchakan’s rise say he took to politics to further his businesses. 

The irregularities he found himself in over the years buttressed their argument. In 2012, Jagathratchakan was involved in the Coal Scam, accused of granting illegal coal allocation to one of his companies. 

A ₹900-crore fine

On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) levied a hefty fine of ₹908 crore on Jagathratchakan and his family members for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The charges relate to an investment of ₹42 crore in a shell company, Silver Park International Pte Ltd, incorporated in Singapore in 2017, and an investment of ₹9 crore in a Sri Lankan company. 

Silver Park International was involved in setting up a $ 3.5 billion oil refinery in Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka. The ED has already confiscated properties worth ₹89 crore. 

Jagathratchakan’s political career began when he contested for the state assembly election in 1980 and won as part of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) under actor-turned-politician M.G. Ramachandran (MGR). 

In 1984, Jagathratchakan was one of the first politicians to establish a college—the Bharath Institute of Science and Technology. Many other politicians followed suit. He then started a medical college—Shree Balaji Medical College and Hospital.

A ₹1,000-crore tax evasion

After MGR’s demise, Jagathratchakan shifted to the DMK and contested the 1999 Lok Sabha election from Arakkonam. In 2004, he left the DMK to float his own party, Jananayaga Munnetra Kazhagam, which he merged with the DMK in 2009 and has remained there since. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he retained the seat comfortably with a margin of more than 300,000 votes.

In this period, his businesses continued to grow across sectors. Today, he owns interests in education (21 colleges, media reports say), hospitality (through his Accord group of companies), healthcare (apart from the medical college he also owns Dr Rela Hospital and Institute in Chennai), a couple of distilleries, and more. 

While filing his nomination for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Jagathratchakan declared assets worth ₹53 crore and liabilities worth ₹656 crore. His critics say his assets are worth much more. In October last year, after a five-day raid across 40 premises related to him, the Income Tax department accused Jagathratchakan of evading tax to the tune of ₹1,000 crore.

In the past, these controversies did little to impact him politically or his businesses. He is well-connected and has friends across the political spectrum. It remains to be seen if he will emerge from the latest crisis unscathed.