Madras High Court on Tuesday issued an interim stay on the Tamil Nadu government’s order transferring all idol theft cases to the CBI.
A bench consisting of Justices R Mahadevan and PD Audikesavalu was hearing a petition filed by advocate ‘Elephant’ Rajendran to quash the order issued by the government transferring all the idol theft cases to the CBI on August 1.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that the state government has not cooperated with the idol theft wing for investigation and that the government was in a hurry to transfer the cases to the CBI with an intention to safeguard interested parties.
The petition mentioned that the Supreme Court had upheld the High Court’s 2017 order forming the special wing to investigate idol thefts in Tamil Nadu under the leadership of IG Ponn Manickavel and hence the government’s order violated the court order.
It also stated that the GO was released to save ministers, senior politicians and other people who are involved in the idol theft racket. The plea also sought the removal of Ponn Manickavel from the Inquiry Commission.
The Counsel for the government submitted that the decision to transfer the cases to CBI was a policy decision of the government and that all the aspects have been considered before the decision was taken. The Counsel also requested for more time for filing a response on the matter.
The bench, listening to pleas from both the sides, said that this government order was not fit to exist for even a minute and asked the government as to why the same fervour is not shown in issuing orders related to public welfare.
“Why was such an order issued by the government and how can such an order be issued when the matter is pending in the court?” the judges asked.
They also said that this act insults the court and would warrant an explanation from the home secretary in person.
The court also observed that the state government had not followed any order issued by the court regarding the issue and granted an interim stay to the government order. The judges have posted the matter to Wednesday for the next hearing.