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The Madras High Court ordered the Idol Wing - Criminal Investigation Department (IW-CID) on Friday to complete the investigation into the alleged theft of a peacock idol from the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, Chennai.

Court directed the department to file a final report within four months, and said that otherwise the First Investigation Report (FIR) registered in 2018 will be quashed.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department Additional Commissioner N. Thirumagal and former government Chief Sthapathi M. Muthiah to quash the FIR as they had been named as accused in the alleged idol theft which occurred during temple consecration in 2004.

Justice G. Jayachandran stated that even if the FIR is quashed for default, it should not be interpreted as a clean chit to anyone and that those responsible could be prosecuted whenever the missing idol is found or any material that would reasonably lead one to believe that the original idol was replaced clandestinely surfaces.

"This court, like anyone else, is concerned about our heritage and the retrieval of idols stolen from our temples," the single judge bench observed and pointed out that even the well-known philanthropist Venu Srinivasan had not been spared and was named as an accused in the case.

Court added that the aforementioned concern cannot be exploited and abused to frame innocent people to settle a personal score.

Court emphasized that the Kapaleeswarar temple was not located in a remote village, but rather in the heart of Chennai, with hundreds of domestic and foreign devotees visiting it daily. In such circumstances, Court said that it was difficult to believe that no one had noticed the idol's replacement with a fake for 14 years.

Court further observed that according to a 2018 complaint filed by Rangarajan Narasimhan of Srirangam, the original peacock idol found inside Punnai Vananathar's sanctum sanctorum carried a flower in its beak, whereas the replaced idol since 2002 carried a snake in its beak and even though four years had passed since the FIR, the original idol had not been located until now.

Furthermore, Court stated that the complainant had threatened the police with contempt proceedings if they insisted on conducting a preliminary investigation before filing an FIR, citing the Supreme Court's decision in the Lalita Kumari case, wherein it was stated that a preliminary investigation would be required only to determine whether a cognizable offense had been made out in the complaint.

Court noted that the IW-CID had registered the FIR without conducting any preliminary investigation even though the complaint was lodged 14 years after the alleged crime.

Court further noted that the prosecution’s star witness Shekar, who worked as Thirumagal's driver in 2004 when she was the executive officer of the Kapaleeswarar temple, in his statement to the IW-CID claimed to have seen the original idol removed from the day before the 2004 consecration.

However, the Court also observed that Shekar admitted having certain personal confrontations with Thirumagal, as a result of which he was demoted from the driver and forced to sell 'archanai' tickets near the Punnai Vananathar Sannidhi, and thus his version must be taken with a grain of salt.

Recently, in April a division bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D.Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the Tamil Nadu police to complete the investigation into the case of the disappearance of a statue of a peacock from the Arulmighu Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai.

On April 1, 2022, the Tamil Nadu State Government submitted that a Fact Finding Committee under the Chairmanship of retired judge Justice K Venkataraman has been constituted to probe the matter.

[Source: The Hindu]