Case adjourned to August 24
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday adjourned a public interest petition seeking a CBI investigation into an alleged land registration fraud involving property belonging to the Palani Dhandapani Swamy Math in Dindigul district. The matter has been posted for hearing on August 24.
Allegations over registration of Math land
The petition concerns land said to be worth about Rs 100 crore, which was allegedly registered fraudulently in the names of private individuals. In connection with the case, CB-CID police have arrested Justin Manikandan, a sub-registrar, and a few others.
PIL filed by former MLA
The PIL was filed by former Palani MLA Venugopalu Senapathi. He stated that on the date of registration, Justin Manikandan was functioning as the in-charge sub-registrar at the Kodaikanal Sub-Registrar Office, and alleged that he had earlier faced two cases related to the registration of forged documents.
Request to transfer probe and appoint monitor
Citing lack of confidence in the CB-CID probe as it is under the state government, the petitioner sought transfer of the investigation to the CBI. He also requested the court to appoint a retired judge of the Madras High Court to supervise the investigation.
Bench hearing the matter
The petition is being heard by a division bench of Justices Karthikeyan and Sakthivel. After coming up again on August 12, the case was adjourned to August 24.
