HC dismisses appeal against appointment of inquiry officer

Madras High Court today dismissed an appeal against a single judge's order appointing a retired judge of Kerala High Court as the inquiry officer to probe allegations against Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust in Puducherry.
Dismissing the appeal filed by Dayanidi Patel and two others, the First Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, said the "interim order passed by Justice KK Sasidharan would disclose that the interest of all parties has been taken into consideration by the single judge, who has passed a detailed order by issuing certain directions."
Originally, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust in Puducherry had filed a petition challenging the order for initiating an inquiry into the allegations made by some of its inmates including Ashok Anand and Vishnu Lalit.

It had also challenged the notice dated October 1, 2012, inviting the interested inmates and others to approach the Deputy Collector (Revenue) in connection with the inquiry.
Taking note of the fact that the Ashram was not against the inquiry, but only against the Collector conducting the probe "with a predetermined mind", Justice Sasidharan, with the consent of both sides, appointed Justice PR Raman, a retired Judge of Kerala High Court, as the Inquiry Officer.
The bench dismissed the appeal against the appointment of Justice Raman, stating that there was no merit in it.