MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday stayed the criminal proceedings initiated by the CBI against retired inspector general of Police Idol Wing CID AG Pon Manickavel on charges that he falsely implicated former DSP Kader Batcha in an idol theft case. Justice B Pugalendhi passed the interim order on a petition filed by Manickavel seeking to quash the FIR registered against him by the CBI.
Kader Batcha had filed a petition before the high court seeking a direction to register a case against the IGP for falsely implicating him in the case involving the theft of 13 idols from Palavoor temple in Tirunelveli.
Manickavel had added Batcha as an accused in the case on charges that Batcha and a few other officers sold two of the idols recovered by them during their investigation. Since Batcha denied the allegations and claimed false implication, the high court directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry and file a report before the lower court.
But the CBI, instead of filing a report, registered an FIR against him, Manickavel claimed.
Though the FIR was registered based on the preliminary inquiry, the said inquiry report was not annexed as a part of the FIR, he further alleged. Batcha was making the allegations due to his personal grudge and to escape the charges against him, Manickavel said, and sought to quash the FIR. Justice Pugalendhi stayed the proceedings on the FIR and adjourned the case to Monday.