Chennai: The Madras High Court has transferred a case from the CB-CID to the CBI for re- investigation, in which retired IPS officer Sivanandi was allegedly involved in an attack at the residence of the then Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul in April 2015.
Setting aside the closure report filed by the CB-CID in the case, Justice PN Prakash suggested to the High Court to form a special bench to monitor the trial in the case, currently investigated by the Foreshore Estate police and pending before the Metropolitan Magistrate for CB-CID/CCB cases in the city.
The judge said, “On a perusal of the CDR details of the mobile phone of IPS officer Sivanandi, it is seen that he was constantly in touch with Gowthaman and Sasikumar, the advocates, who were involved in the attack on the residence of the then Chief Justice S K Kaul. Dictates of common sense state that the attack would not have been made possible without the backstage support of a senior police officer like Sivanandi. Though Pandiraj, the petitioner filed a protest application challenging the closure report filed in the CB-CID, this court is of the view that this is a fit case in which, the closure report deserves to be set aside, the case transferred to the CBI and re-investigation ordered, for the reason that, in the protest application, the magistrate can, at the most, order further investigation by the same police officer, and not re-investigation. Therefore, this court, being a constitutional court, has the power to order re-investigation.”
The judge observed that the only parallel to this was the ransacking of the Supreme Court of Pakistan by lawyers in allegiance to Nawaz Sharif to remonstrate against the orders passed by the then Chief Justice Syed Sajjad Ali Shah against Nawaz Sharif.
In his first complaint to the CCB, Chennai, Pandiraj alleged that he was duped to the tune of Rs 50 lakh by a gang in 2004. He lodged a complaint with the CCB which registered a case on April 2, 2015 under sections 406,420 and 506(I) IPC read with Section 34 IPC against Sujai Anand, Shylaja Reddy, S V Subramanian and others, who allegedly cheated him.
After attending the enquiry, when he was coming out from the CCB office, a gang attempted to abduct him on April 1, 2015. He ran and took shelter in Vepery police station and filed a second case. He suspected the involvement of Sivanandi who is close to the accused, for mounting pressure to withdraw the complaint given to the CCB.
Fearing arrest in the cases, a group of around 70 lawyers went to the house of the Chief Justice for a special motion to move anticipatory bail when the CJ was in Delhi for a conference. The lawyers barged into the residence of the Chief Justice and created a ruckus. Hence, a third case was registered by Foreshore Estate police. As the complaint was closed, Pandiraj moved the High Court with the present petition to transfer the case to the CBI.
The judge said that the final report speaks about the existence of two teams in the Saidapet Court campus, viz., the ‘Gate Team’ and ‘Bike Team’. This court reliably understands that ordinary litigants and advocates from other Bars are required to pay protection money to the Gate Team for defending an accused. The services of the ‘Bike Team’ are available for illegal dispossession of persons from disputed properties and for related attacks. “When this has been happening right under the very nose of the High Court, we cannot afford to turn a Nelson’s eye to these activities and choose to live in the comforts of the CISF cocoon. Perhaps, the fear of these gangs could also be one of the reasons for the magistrates not even taking charge-sheets on file, each one hoping that he can pass on the baton to his successor. When this is the plight of judicial officers, it is not known how witnesses will come forward to give evidence against the accused in the case. It is time for the High Court to seriously explore
the suggestions given in the Justice K. Chandru Committee report, wherein, the ills plaguing the magistracy in Chennai city have been set out and remedies prescribed,” he said.
