Madras HC grants anticipatory bail to former TN top cop Pon Manickavel

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail for AG Pon Manickavel, former Inspector General of Police (Idol Wing) with some conditions, in a case filed by the CBI.

Earlier, I Kader Batcha, former Deputy Superintendent of Police, along with several other individuals, were arrested in an idol theft case. The charge against Kader Batch was that, in 2008, when he was serving as an Inspector, he forcibly took three idols from a dealer under gunpoint and sold them to a person named Deenadayalan. The idols were stolen from Palavoor temple in Tirunelveli district in 2006.

However, the DSP had stated that the case was falsely foisted against him as an act of vengeance by Pon Manickavel and alleged that Manickavel helped international idol smuggler Subash Chandra Kapoor and his local agent Deenadayalan.

In response to this, the High Court directed the police to investigate the charges. Later, a fresh case was filed against Manickavel, who was accused of falsely implicating Batcha in a criminal case and framing documents by creating false statements.

In this regard, a plea filed by Manickavel seeking anticipatory bail in the case filed against him by the CBI, which is probing into cases of idol theft, came up for hearing on August 28.

The petitioner stated that as per directive, a DIG ranked officer should have investigated the idol theft cases and submitted a report before the court. But, the Superintendent of Police, CBI filed a case. The SP of CBI has no powers to file the case, it’s unlawful and could not be accepted, he said.

Moreover, the petitioner claimed that it’s an unreasonable search and seizure by the CBI from his house. Such acts by the CBI would tarnish his reputation and citing these, Manickavel sought the court to grant him anticipatory bail.

Senior counsel on behalf of the petitioner said that Manickavel had formerly served as the Inspector General of Police and led the probe into idol theft cases as per the directive of the court. But, the CBI had filed a case against Manickavel on false charges with no evidence against him.

During the previous hearing on Thursday, Senior advocate K Srinivasan for CBI cases said if granted bail, he would attempt to influence witnesses and destroy evidence. Hence, court should dismiss the anticipatory bail plea.

Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy urged the CBI to clarify whether cases registered against Manickavel invoked bailable or non-bailable sections and directed the CBI to furnish documents pertaining to it.

The judge then granted anticipatory bail with conditions that Manickavel should appear before the CBI office, Chennai at 10.30 am, and enter his signature for a period of four weeks.

Further while imposing conditions, the judge directed him to deposit Rs 25,000 and provide two sureties.