The Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking a CBI probe into allegations that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had a hand in the 2017 break-in and murder at former CM Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate.
According to Live Law, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing a petition filed by Traffic Ramaswamy. "Somebody makes a statement that CM has committed a crime. CM says he has not done it. He orders an inquiry. What's wrong in it?" CJI Gogoi said.
The petition filed by Traffic Ramaswamy comes on the back of an investigative documentary by Narada News editor Mathew Samuel on the heist and murder that took place at Kodanad estate in April 2017. In the 16-minute video, two men – Sayan and ‘Walayar’ Manoj – who allegedly broke into the estate, allege that the job was ordered by the Chief Minister.
While EPS has denied the allegations saying there is no truth to the documentary, Sayan and Manoj were later arrested in Delhi by a special team of the Tamil Nadu police. Although they were later granted bail by a court in Chennai, the Chief Minister also went onto file a Rs 1.1 crore defamation suit against journalist Mathew Samuel and six others. The Madras High Court has since order a gag order on Mathew Samuel and the others, restraining them from talking to the media about the allegations.
Alleging that cases have been registered against the journalist and Sayan and Manoj in order to silence them, Traffic Ramaswamy also claimed that the police was attempting to destroy evidence in the case. His petition said, "Since Palaniswami is the CM of the state, it is just and necessary for this Hon'ble Court to transfer or hand over the criminal case against him from Tamil Nadu police to CBI."