Madras HC Adjourns Pleas for CBI Probe into ₹100-Crore Palani Mutt Land Scam

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday adjourned a batch of petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged fraudulent registration of ₹100 crore worth of Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamigal mutt land in Palani, Dindigul district, setting the next hearing for August 24.

A Division Bench comprising Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel heard the petitions, which were filed by former Palani MLA Venugopal Senapathy, Annapoorani Sivakumar, and Palani municipal chairperson Uma Maheshwari Pradeep.

The petitioners alleged that land belonging to the Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple mutt had been fraudulently registered in the names of private individuals. They questioned the credibility of the ongoing probe by the Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID), which is under the State government's control, and sought a transfer of the investigation to the CBI.

The CB-CID has so far arrested 11 persons in connection with the land case. Among those arrested was advocate Anwardeen, who died while in judicial custody at Madurai Central Prison. Counsel for the petitioners pointed out that Anwardeen, accused of playing a key role in the scam, died within a few hours of being remanded in judicial custody after completing three days of police custody, which they submitted raised serious doubts over the State agency's investigation.

Also among those arrested and subsequently suspended is Justin Manikandan, who served as the in-charge sub registrar at the Palani sub registrar's office when the disputed documents were registered. Counsel highlighted that Manikandan had previously faced two cases relating to the registration of forged and fraudulent documents, yet was still permitted to function as an in-charge sub registrar.

Meanwhile, a separate case has been registered against suspended sub registrar Justin Manikandan for allegedly registering private land in Aykudi village near Palani using forged documents. Police booked Manikandan along with Mani, the alleged seller, and Kandasamy, the alleged buyer, following a complaint lodged by sub registrar Eswari.