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Ponn Manickavel refuses to hand over idol wing case files
Tug of war on as the Spl Officer says he was appointed by the HC and not by govt
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
After a tumultuous one year tenure, even as the Tamil Nadu government issued a Government Order directing the High Court nominated Idol Wing CID Special Officer Ponn Manickavel to hand over all records pertaining to cases and work done by him and by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), to the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Idol Wing, Abhay Kumar Singh, the retired IG refused to do so without the court’s permission.
Manickavel said the GO was not binding on him as he was appointed by the Madras High Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court. He also said he did not have the powers to hand over the records as the cases were pending before the Apex Court and the government has to wait till the disposal of the cases.
Even as a Government Order was issued on Friday relieving retired Inspector General AG Ponn Manickavel as Special Officer of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing idol thefts and directed him to submit the records of cases being investigated by his team to ADGP Abhay Kumar Singh who is heading the Idol Wing CID, he refused to hand over the details saying it is ‘legally impermissible’.
The GO was issued after ADGP Abhay Kumar Singh wrote a letter on November 28 seeking to direct Ponn Manickavel to hand over all the records and details of the cases probed by the SIT he headed on or before November 30 – the date on which his tenure as court-appointed Special Officer completed. The Head of State Police, DGP JK Tripathy, concurred to the Idol Wing ADGP’s request on the same day.
However, Ponn Manickavel shot off a letter to the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary and DGP on Saturday, stating that the direction seeking details was not valid as the matter was sub-judice. “I assumed responsibility as the Special Officer on the basis of orders passed by the High Court and was not appointed by the government,” said Ponn Manickavel in the letter.
The letter said the interlocutory application (IA) of the ADGP, Idol Wing, has been posted for hearing at the Supreme Court on Monday (December 2) and added that the GO was in violation of an order passed by the High Court on November 25.
“Please await the order of the Supreme Court. In the absence of specific direction from the High Court or the Supreme Court, the question of handing over records of the investigations by the Special Officer and other officers of the SIT to the ADGP, Idol Wing, is legally impermissible,” he contended inthe letter.
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