Madras HC Bins PIL Seeking CBI Probe Against Gem Veeramani

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the transfer of the SIT investigation into POCSO cases against 'Gem Granites' owner R. Veeramani to the CBI, saying the SIT should be given breathing time to collect all the evidence in connection with the case.

Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, while dismissing the petition, orally observed that this is a publicity interest litigation. The court said "four women officers have been appointed. Why are you interfering without giving them an opportunity to investigate? I think this is at the instance of the accused. "

The court said, “It is a very sensitive matter. You people are not realising that this is not an area to play politics. I am more concerned about the children. You are not serious about what happened at all. There are other cases in which you can gain publicity. Please don’t interfere in this case. A lot of children belonging to the Scheduled Castes are victims in this case.”

The judge said the Tamil Nadu police did not have a crystal ball or a magic wand to get all the evidence at once. The SIT should be permitted to carry on the investigation, the judge noted. The SIT should be given breathing time to collect all the evidence in connection with the case.

"The SIT itself had been formed hardly four days ago. I'm sure TN police does not have a crystal ball or magic wand to get all the evidence at once. Investigation takes time, especially as in the present case. Be that as it may, as of today, an SIT has been formed and it has commenced investigation. Even without giving them breathing space, asking to transfer the probe to CBI will not be proper," the court said.

The petition was filed by an individual, Vaaraki, who argued that high-ranking officials were involved in the case, raising an apprehension that the SIT would not conduct the investigation independently and effectively, necessitating a probe by an independent agency.

When the petitioner said there was an apprehension that an independent investigation would not be carried out in the case and that the investigating team was keeping silent with respect to evidence against some high-ranking officials, the judge wondered how such allegations could be made without giving time for the SIT to conduct an investigation. "We'll transfer it to the FBI. Totally independent. Out of India. How can you say they're keeping silent? This is a publicity interest litigation”, the court

said.