It has been decided to seek the help of Interpol in the matter relating to the Sivagiri Estate, Tirunelveli, a controversy which is pending before the Madras High Court.
This was submitted by the Special Government Pleader, I.S.Inbathurai, when the estate matter came up before a Special Bench comprising Justices P.Jyothimani and M.Duraiswamy. Earlier, the court had directed the Chennai Collector to interact with the archives department and inform the court about the estate property in Chennai. The court had posted the matter for Monday.
During the resumed hearing, the Bench wanted to know when the Collector would file his report. Mr.Inbathurai said the court had directed an investigation by the CB-CID into the matter. The probe had begun. For the past three days, one Vidya and her father Prabakar Patwardhan were interrogated. Her sister Maya was in Switzerland. Efforts were being taken to bring her back to India for interrogation. “We have decided to get the help of Interpol in the matter.”
Meanwhile, V.Chockalingam, counsel for a claimant for the property, N.Jeganathan, was put in the witness box and his deposition was recorded by the Bench.
The case took an interesting turn when the counsel had earlier said that a Swiss national, Guiseppe Leipoldo Cassina, who was said to be the Power of Attorney of Mr.Jeganathan, had told him that the British Government before 1947 had deposited a huge sum of Pandiya funds in a trust account in Switzerland. Vidya also claimed to be the heir of the Pandiya. Maya was her sister and she married Cassina. He died recently.
