HC quashes TN govt order transferring idol theft cases to CBI

The Madras High Court Friday quashed a Tamil Nadu government order transferring the investigation of idol theft cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A special bench of Justice R Mahadevan and Justice P D Audikesavulu, constituted to hear petitions related to idol thefts, held that the GO was "colourable, unreasonable and arbitrary".

It also ordered appointment of Inspector General Pon Manickavel, who superannuated Friday, as a special officer to investigate the present and future cases of the Idol Wing for a period of one year.

The state government had issued a government order Thursday appointing Additional Director General of Police Abhay Kumar Singh to succeed Pon Manickavel.

The court had on August 8 stayed the August 1 government order on petitions filed by advocate Elephant Rajendran and social activist Traffic Ramaswamy, seeking to quash the order transferring the case.

Taking a serious view of the theft of antique idols, the court had in July last year directed the transfer of all pending cases in the state to a court in Kumbakonam of Thanjavur district, from where a number of idols had been stolen, for their effective and speedy disposal on a day-to-day basis.

It had also quashed the transfer order of Manickavel from the Idol Wing and directed him to constitute a team and continue investigation of the cases.

During the earlier hearing, the state government had contended there were enough and sufficient grounds for transferring the investigation to the CBI as in some cases, there were international and inter-state ramifications.

Also, the government had said the investigation needed the cooperation of central government agencies such as customs, embassies and foreign governments, and in some cases, the accused might need to be extradited from foreign nations.