Two days after the State government issued an order transferring the investigation of all idol theft cases from the Idol Wing of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), headed by court-appointed Inspector General of Police A.G. Ponn Manickavel, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Madras High Court on Friday questioned the authority of the government to issue such an order despite Mr. Manickavel’s appointment having been approved by the Supreme Court.
Justice R. Mahadevan raised the query during the hearing of a contempt of court petition filed by activist-advocate ‘Elephant’ G. Rajendran against Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Commissioner R. Jaya and Director General of Police T.K. Rajendran for having allegedly disobeyed 21 directives issued by the High Court on July 21 last year with respect to theft of idols.
One of those directives was to appoint Mr. Manickavel and his team to investigate all idol theft cases in the State. Though the DGP took the judgment on appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed the appointment on September 1. Thereafter, the judge had been following up on the case periodically to ensure that all 21 directions, including the order to construct strong rooms for safe custody of ancient idols in all temples across the State, were complied with.
In the meantime, the contempt of court petition was filed last month. During its hearing on Friday, the judge told Additional Advocate General P.H. Arvindh Pandian that activist ‘Traffic’ K.R. Ramaswamy had made a mention before a Division Bench comprising him and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu that he intended to file a public interest litigation petition challenging the Government Order issued by the Home Department for transferring the idol theft cases to the CBI.
“Under what authority has the government done that? It was by an order of this court that the cases were ordered to be investigated by the IG. The order was affirmed by the Supreme Court too. This State is known for its culture, and it must be preserved,” the judge said.
Stating that the government was equally concerned about preserving the rich heritage and culture of the State, the AAG said, “The investigations were going in a different direction, because of which the State had to take certain decisions,” and assured the judge that the Idol Wing-CID will not be disbanded.
He said only the cases that were under investigation and new complaints, if any, would be handled by the CBI. The Idol Wing-CID could continue to pursue other cases in which it had already filed chargesheets, and which were pending trial, he added.
The judge said he wanted to peruse the G.O. before taking any decision on the issue, and adjourned further hearing on the contempt petition to Wednesday.
Minister defends move
Justifying its decision, the State government on Friday contended that the idol theft cases were transferred only because they also involved inter-State and international issues.
Addressing mediapersons, Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar maintained that there was no divergence in the view that the State police was “on a par with Scotland Yard”. The State government was being transparent on the case, and the probe would bring all the wrong-doers to book, he added.
