The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by a prosecution witness against the decision of the police to dig deeper into the Kodanad murder-heist case, removing a hurdle for further investigations into the April 2017 crime that took place in the hilly retreat of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
Justice Nirmal Kumar of the Madras High Court, while ruling on a petition filed by prosecution witness and AIADMK functionary Anubhav Ravi, said that the police can conduct an expanded investigation into the case even after filing of the charge sheet, and reasoned that the petitioner is neither the accused nor the complainant but only a witness.
In the hearing of the dismissed petition, the police had submitted that confidential information had been received, and in its aftermath, a thorough probe was necessary to get to the bottom of the case.
The dismissal of the petition has added heft to the police’s decision to summon more witnesses and go into the finer details of the case.
According to the charge sheet, the crime took place in the sprawling bungalow of the AIADMK icon, committed by a gang of armed robbers who also murdered a security guard, Om Bahadur. The case is now under the trail at a sessions court in The Nilgiris.
Ravi’s plea contrasts directly with that of three people accused in the case –Deepu, Santhosh Samy and Satheesan — who have moved the Madras High Court with a criminal revision petition seeking to investigate both Edappadi K Palaniswami and VK Sasikala.
The criminal revision petition is yet to be taken up by the Madras High Court.
The AIADMK top leadership had approached Governor Banwarilal Purohit seeking to put an end to the DMK government’s decision to go for an expanded investigation, claiming it was motivated by political vendetta.
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