MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail petition filed by Vellaithurai, one of the purchasers in the alleged Palani Mutt land fraud case, observing that granting him relief would affect the ongoing CB-CID investigation.

When the case came up for hearing before Justice K Rajasekar, the State Government Counsel, opposing the bail plea, submitted that the investigation had revealed a criminal conspiracy between the vendor and the purchaser.

The prosecution further submitted that although the vendor had claimed that the sale consideration was paid through five or six cheques, no actual monetary transaction had taken place. The counsel further told the court that while the government's guideline value of the property was around Rs 16 crore, the entire property had been sold for only Rs 2 crore.

The prosecution also informed the court that Rs 1 lakh had been paid to the Thanpani Mutt on the very day the property was purchased. It contended that the petitioner had purchased the land with the intention of cheating and usurping the property.

The petitioner's counsel did not offer any explanation to these allegations.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Rajasekar observed that the truth would emerge only if the investigation were allowed to proceed unhindered.

"The transfer of a total of Rs 1 lakh to those who passed the resolution to register the land raises suspicion," the judge observed.

Observing that government officials were also alleged to have been involved in the case, the judge held that granting anticipatory bail to Vellaithurai at this stage would affect the investigation. The court accordingly dismissed his anticipatory bail petition.