The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition for an “independent investigation” by the CBI into the Kodanad Estate robbery and murder case of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha’s home guard and driver in 2017.
“This is not a fit case for admission,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna observed, dismissing the petition. The court refused to allow the lawyer to even withdraw the case.
“How can you file such a petition based on what this person... What is his name? Mathew Samuel... on the basis of what he told the media. You want an inquiry against the chief minister of a State on the basis of what this person said?” Chief Justice Gogoi asked the petitioner’s lawyer, advocate G.S. Mani.
The petition by ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy sought the Supreme Court to order the Tamil Nadu Police to hand over the records of the case.
It has sought the CBI to conduct an “independent investigation into the involvement of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr. Edappadi K. Palanisamy in the criminal case.”
“The robbery and continuous murder of former chief minister Tamil Nadu late Ms. J. Jayalalitha’s driver and home guard etc. etc. is not an ordinary murder case. It is rarest of rare one, politically motivated, may also link with the suspicious death of former chief minister J. Jayalalitha and is very serious in nature,” the petition said.
It said the “persons who involved in this murder case are not ordinary person but they are very highly influential persons. The State Police are ineffective to do free and fair investigation against the highly influential.”
The petition said “Mr. Edappadi K Palanisamy is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and since he is an influential person, it is just and necessary for this Hon’ble Court to transfer or hand over the criminal case against him from respondent Tamil Nadu Police to independent investigating agency, namely, CBI and render justice”.
“Free and fair investigation of a crime against society is a fundamental right of every citizen,” the petition said.
