Supreme Court To Hear Kapaleeshwarar Temple 'Peacock Idol Theft Case' on July 28

The Supreme Court on Friday directed that the matter pertaining to "replacement/theft of peacock" needs to be heard and will be listed on preferably a non-miscellaneous day on July 28. The case relates to the swapping of an original and historically significant idol carrying a flower for a replica carrying a snake during the Kapaleeshwarar Temple consecration in 2004 in Chennai's Mylapore.The original idol featured a peacock with a flower in its beak, however, there were allegations that the temple officials and the HR&CE department replaced the original idol with a counterfeit featuring a snake in its beak.As per reports, the investigation into the case was hindered due to the destruction of key records and files.Previously, the Madras High

Court had constituted a fact-finding committee comprising retired judges to investigate the missing statue and the alleged counterfeit replacement.As the matter reached the Supreme Court, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appeared for Venu Srinivasan and argued that though the case pertains to 2004, an FIR was registered in 2018. The top court, however, decided to schedule the matter for further hearing. Venu Srinivasan serves on the Tata Sons Board as a non-executive director and is also chairman of TVS Motor Company.In 2018, Srinivasan was named in an FIR regarding the alleged theft and unauthorised replacement of idols at the Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai. Srinivasan was probed as he was involved in the 2004 temple renovation committee.The court was informed by the co-petitioner’s counsel that Srinivasan was discharged in the issue. After an adjournment request from counsels, the court posted the matter for July 28.The case pertains to three missing antique idols from the famous Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore. Based on a complaint from a devotee, claiming that idols of Rahu, Ketu, and peacock Amman were missing from the temple, the idol wing CID had registered an FIR against Srinivsan and others.