Panel headed by ex-judge to trace peacock idol

The state Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that a fact-finding committee headed by Justice (retired) K Venkatraman of the Madras HC has been constituted to trace the missing peacock idol of Kapaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore, Chennai.

When the first bench comprising Chief Justice MN Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy heard a plea by Rangarajan Narasimhan, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram made this submission stating the State would trace the idol.

“An order has been passed regarding the formation of the fact-finding committee on March 30. We need a time of six months to complete the fact-finding committee’s inquiry,” HR&CE commissioner J Kumaragurubaran said on the counter.

The AG also informed the court that if the idol was not traced, the state will place an alternate idol within four months on the temple premises. On recording submissions, CJ MN Bhandari advised the state to submit the reports based on inquiries soon and adjourned the matter to April 7.