Chennai: The Madras High Court today granted bail to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Additional Commissioner M Kavitha who was recently arrested in connection with the idol smuggling case.
She was arrested on charges of pocketing money and gold collected as donations for making idols for Sri Ekambareswarar Temple in Kanchipuram in 2015.
The Madras High Court today gave the government time till Monday to submit the documents that support the arrest of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Additional Commissioner M Kavitha.
Kavitha’s counsel Ramesh, who moved the court for bail, said no summons was issued to his client.
“She is a high official of IAS rank and her name was also not mentioned in the FIR. She has been arrested based on a statement given by an accused. This seems more like a personal revenge,” he said.
Responding to this, judges R Mahadevan and P D Adhikesavalu asked government advocate Emiliyaas why the arrest was made without issuing summons.
Later on, the case was transfered to CBI.
Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the case was transferred to CBI because it had international links.
“There is no hidden motive behind this,” he added.