CBI to take over idol theft cases, TN govt tells HC

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that it had taken a policy decision to hand over all idol theft cases to the CBI as the idol wing was "not performing satisfactorily".

Additional Advocate General P H Arvind Pandiyan made the submission before the Special Bench comprising Justices R Mahadevan and P D Audikesavulu after a public interest litigation petition was filed by Rangarajan Narasimhan about the theft of doors and idols at Srirangam's Sri Ranganathar Temple. 

The government took the decision to hand over all the cases to the CBI as the idol wing, headed by IG Pon Manickavel, is not performing satisfactorily, Pandiyan said, adding that the wing had not filed even a single report on the progress of cases in the past one year. 

Idol theft cases in future will also be probed by the CBI, he said. Advocate 'Elephant' Rajendran then submitted that he would oppose the handing over of the cases to the CBI. 

To this, the Bench said, "Let the government first pass the order."