SC seeks answers on godman
The Supreme Court has asked why no proceedings were initiated against controversial godman Chandraswami if the government suspected him of funding former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination by the LTTE.
The Supreme Court has asked why no proceedings were initiated against controversial godman Chandraswami if the government suspected him of funding former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination by the LTTE.
The bench made the passing reference after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed Chandraswami’s plea to travel abroad. The ED’s contention was that the godman has several criminal cases registered against him and is suspected of funding the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
“If he has funded the assassination, then why did you not proceed against him?” a vacation bench of Justices V.S. Sirpurkar and R.M. Lodha asked ED’s counsel Wasim Ahmed Qadri.
Senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the controversial godman, however, told the court that Chandraswami was never an accused in the case unlike the slain LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran and others like the organisation’s intelligence wing chief Pottu Amman.
To another query from the bench, Quadri said it appears that the case against Prabahakaran in India might be closed as he was killed the Sri Lankan army.
Earlier, Rohtagi had pleaded that Chandraswami be permitted to travel abroad as he had been acquitted of all criminal cases registered against him, except the nine cases registered against him by ED.