CHENNAI: Holding that a probe cannot be transferred based on unverified media reports or viral videos on digital platforms, the Madras High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking a CBI probe into the alleged bid to poach TVK’s Uthangarai MLA Dr N Elaiyaraja that is under investigation by the Greater Chennai Police.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan said, “The state police have already apprehended nine suspects, gathered material evidence and secured judicial remands. Therefore, we are of the view that the invocation of the extraordinary jurisdiction to demand a transfer of the probe based on unverified media reports is a clear deviation from its noble purpose.”
The petition was filed by J Balasubramani, a Tiruppur-based advocate, alleging the Triplicane police, who registered the FIR based on Elaiyaraja’s complaint, are not holding a fair probe and so, the case has to be transferred to the CBI.
The bench, in the order passed on Thursday, said the law on transferring an investigation to the CBI is well-settled and the transfer of probe to CBI is an “extraordinary remedy” reserved for “exceptional circumstances” such as when the local investigation is completely paralysed or compromised or incapable of finding the truth.
In the present case, the petitioner has failed to point out a single exceptional circumstance that indicates the local police are acting in bad faith or failing to collect evidence. The unsubstantiated claim made by the petitioner that five complaints sought to be filed by members of the Opposition parties were not registered by the state police cannot form the basis for transferring the ongoing probe to the CBI, it said.