Peacock idol theft: HC summons HR and CE head for not filing probe report

The first bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice PD Audikesavalu passed the direction to the HR&CE Commissioner on hearing a plea moved by Rangarajan Narasimhan, a resident of Sri Rangam. The petitioner sought direction to recover the robbed peacock idol and take action against the officials who failed to prevent the theft.

When the matter was taken up for hearing by the first bench on Monday, the Acting Chief Justice expressed his dissatisfaction with the failure of the fact-finding inquiry committee formed in 2018 to crack the theft.

“We are summoning the HR&CE Commissioner to explain why there is no development in the fact-finding inquiry committee’s probe formed in 2018. The Commissioner shall also explain why it failed to submit a report,” the bench observed.

However, the idol wing informed the court that about 90 per cent of the inquiry has been completed and a report will be submitted within three months. The government also informed the court that the case was filed only in 2018 and the theft occurred in 2004.