The DMK, through its Treasurer and MP T.R. Baalu, has moved the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Special Investigation Team probing the POCSO case against Gem Granites’ R. Veeramani to summon Chief Minister Vijay and Ministers Aadhav Arjuna and C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar to give evidence, saying they publicly claimed to hold material about the party’s involvement but have not given it to the SIT.
The Madras High Court has said it will hear a plea seeking a CBI probe into a POCSO case involving industrialist R Veeramani, known as Gem Granites Veeramani, who was arrested last month over the alleged sexual assault of minor girls. The senior counsel flagged that objectionable videos connected to the case were being broadcast by some media outlets in violation of the POCSO Act. Tamil Nadu has constituted a Special Investigation Team.
The Supreme Court has directed a fresh, de novo investigation into the 2012 rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in Dharmasthala, Karnataka, holding that a constitutional court can order a de novo probe where an investigation has been carried out in a manner that would prevent a fair trial. Setting aside a Karnataka High Court order that had declined reinvestigation, the Court directed the State to constitute a new Special Investigation Team, excluding officers from the earlier teams, to complete the investigation within three months. The appeal was pursued by the victim’s mother after her father died.
The Ayodhya Ram Temple has faced allegations of financial irregularities involving donations, jewellery, gold and other offerings from devotees. Legal petitions seek an independent probe, while the temple trust denies wrongdoing. The Uttar Pradesh government has formed a three-member SIT to investigate the claims.
