Sanction Rs 8,72,700 to firm to conduct underwater search

Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu government to sanction Rs 8,72,700 to a private firm to conduct an underwater search as requested by the Special Investigating Team probing the suspicious death of the son of an advocate.
A full bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, P R Sivakumar and S Nagamuthu directed the government to sanction the amount preferably within two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing to September 13.
The case relates to the suspicious death of Satish Kumar, who was reported missing and whose body was later found in a lake in ICF Colony in north Chennai on June 7, 2012.

The case was transferred to CBI after Kumar's father Sankarasubbu suspected police foul play in the investigation.
However, he later sought a direction from the High Court to restrain CBI from filing the final report and expressed dissatisfaction over the probe.
The High Court later entrusted the matter to a full bench, which handed it over to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan.

SIT had submitted a report before the full bench on August 5, 2013 in a sealed cover which was perused by the bench in the open court.
It passed a brief interim order on August 8 and said SIT had ordered an underwater search to a private firm, for which a proposal was sent to DGP to sanction Rs 8,72,700 for a deep water search in the lake, where the body was found.

The bench said the matter is pending with the government and that Public Prosecutor Shanmugavelayudam, who assured that the amount will be sanctioned at an early date.
The bench after recording the assurance directed the PP to get the amount sanctioned, preferably within two weeks.