The war of nerves or the stand-off between Government of Tamil Nadu and AG Ponn Manickavel, the super cop who was appointed as special officer by the Madras High Court to probe the idol theft cases from the Temples in the State reached new level on late Saturday evening as he was asked by the State administration to hand over all details and record pertaining to the cases to the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP).
The one-year tenure of Manickavel, who retired from the Indian Police Service as an Inspector General on November 30, 2018 came to an end on Saturday
Manickavel was appointed as special officer for a period of one year last November by the Madras High Court to probe the cases related to the stolen idols numbering 5,000 from the temples in the State administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department. Though the Tamil Nadu Government had questioned the MHC directive in the Supreme Court, the apex court had upheld the high court verdict.
But even before the one-year tenure of Manickavel came to an end, the Tamil Nadu Government approached the Supreme Court with a petition seeking a directive from the court to the officer asking him to hand over all records and details related to the idol thefts to the ADGP (Economic Offences Wing).
Manickavel too filed a petition with the MHC seeking an extension of two years in his tenure for effective probe into the cases, He had pointed out that despite his appointment as special officer by the Madras High Court, which was also ratified by the Supreme Court, the Government of Tamil Nadu did not provide him the basic infrastructure for investigating the cases.
The officers and men of the Tamil Nadu Police who were working with him were forced by the authorities to revolt against him and they were made to file fake cases against him, charged the former IPS officer.
Interestingly, Manickavel has the support of the devotees who want him to continue as the special officer for two more years for the logical conclusion of the cases. “It is certain that the ruling AIADMK as well as the opposition DMK has someting to hide from the general public. They want Manickavel out of the investigation because they know that the needle of suspicion would point towards the Dravidian politicians who were mismanaging and misappropriating the temple properties since 1967,” said TR Ramesh, president, Temple Worshippers Society.
Tamil Nadu Government is in the dock over the disappearance of 50,000 acres of prime landed property owned by the HRCE administered temples. The Madras High Court has stayed last week an order issued by the Tamil Nadu Government to buy back the temple land encroached by the people from them and sell it back to them with proper patta.
The Supreme Court had asked the Madras High Court to adjourn the hearing of the petition filed by Manickavel till December 2 as the former was hearing the plea filed by the Government of Tamil Nadu for a directive to the special
officer.
Ponn Manickavel said that the Government order asking him to hand over the charges as special officer to the ADGP signed by Niranjan Mardi, additional chief secretary and which was hand delivered by a special messenger was sub judice.
“The Supreme Court has asked the MHC as well as Tamil Nadu Government not to take any action as it has posted the petition of the State for hearing on December 2,” said Manickavel.