Appalled at the twists and turns in the abduction case of a deaf-mute man, to swindle vast properties left behind by his father, the Madras High Court, after assuming the role of loco parentis of the person whose mental growth was also retarded, has directed the CB-CID of the Tamil Nadu police to probe the case.
Filled with mysteriesSurprised by the facts of the case filled with mysteries — Manoj Rajan, 37, was kidnapped and re-married by his former wife with the help of few lawyers, soon after the death of his father, making him the lone legal heir for properties worth crores of rupees — Justice P.N. Prakash said, “The facts of the case read like a Sydney Sheldon narrative.”
According to N. Ananth, the present custodian of the properties, the only son of industrialist E.J. Rajan, Manoj was married to Priya Darshini in 2008.
But within a year of marriage, she got divorced on the ground that Manoj was suffering from serious mental illness. She also received Rs. 4 lakh as permanent alimony.
On December 26, 2013 Rajan died, leaving behind huge estate and properties to his only son Manoj. As per Rajan’s testament, his friend and chartered accountant Ananth took custody of the properties and Manoj.
Mr. Ananth lodged Manoj in a Charity Home for Mentally Retarded in Gudalur, Nilgiris.
While so, in 2015, Priya Darshini moved a habeas corpus plea before the High Court alleging that Manoj was kept under illegal custody by Mr. Ananth.
Based on the reports filed by the police, the High Court was convinced that Manoj was not under illegal detention and held that Priya Darshini had no locus standi to move such pleas since she was no more a lawful wife of Manoj.
HC’s interventionA year after the verdict, Priya Darshini, along with a group of lawyers, abducted Manoj from the home on May 4, 2016 and remarried him.
As the police failed to take action on a complaint filed by the home authorities on the abduction, Mr. Ananth moved the High Court.
After the intervention of the High Court, the police traced Manoj and lodged him back in the home on July 23. During the further course of hearing, it came to light that when Manoj was in the custody of Priya Darshini, the title of 11,772 square feet property belonging to Manoj was transferred to a third party and the transaction was registered even without original documents of the property.
When the plea came up for hearing recently, considering the apprehension expressed by the counsel for the petitioner and the amicus curiae that there is an imminent threat to the life of Manoj, Justice Prakash directed the authorities to lodge him in a home managed by a private trust in Madurai with proper protection.
