In a writ petition under Article 226, the petitioner sought transfer of a concluded fraud investigation from state police to the CBI. The court held the prayer infructuous as the underlying complaints were finally disposed of by the Supreme Court.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Dated: 12.06.2019
C O R A M
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE S.MANIKUMAR AND THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD
W.P.No.2994 of 2009 and M.P.Nos.1 and 2 of 2009
R.Ramesh Kumar ... Petitioner
Vs.
1.State of Tamil Nadu
Rep by Chief Secretary
Government of Tamil Nadu,
Fort St. George, Chennai - 9.
2.State of Tamil Nadu
Rep by Home Secretary
Government of Tamil Nadu
Fort George, Chennai - 9.
3.Director General of Police
Dr.S.Radhakrishnan Road,
Mylapore, Chennai - 4.
4.The Additional Director General of Police,
CBCID, Guindy, Chennai.
5.Mr.Thukkaiaandi
I.G., C.B.C.I.D., Guindy Chennai.
6.Mr.Sundareswarapandian
(formerly) Inspector, CBCID,
Guindy, Chennai.
7.Mr.Sivasubramaniam,
Sub-Inspector, CBCID,
Guindy, Chennai.
8.Mr.Ramanujam,
Constable, CBCID,
Guindy, Chennai.
9.The Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, 8th Floor, Block.III C.G.O. Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-3. ... Respondents
Prayer: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents 1, 2 and 3 to transfer the investigation of the "Gold Quest multi level marketing scam" to the 9th respondent and give such other directions.
For petitioner .. Mr.B.Rabu Manohar
For R1 to R4 .. Mr.E.Manoharan
Additional Government Pleader.
For R5 .. P.Venkatasubramanian
For R6 to R9 .. No Appearance
ORDER
(Order of the Court was made by S.MANIKUMAR,J)
Mr.R.Ramesh Kumar, a practicing Advocate of the Madras High
Court, has filed the instant writ petition, for a Writ of
Mandamus, directing the respondents 1 to 3, to transfer
investigation of the "Gold Quest multi level marketing scam" to
the Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi, the
9th respondent herein, and to issue such other directions.
2. It is the case of the petitioner that Gold Quest International Private Limited has defrauded many depositors, the action taken by CBCID, did not yield the desired result, and hence investigation should be transferred to the Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi. Setting out the details of the steps taken by the Inspector of Police, Crime Branch C.I.D., Chennai, a counter affidavit has been filed.
3. Based on the above, Mr.E.Manoharan, learned Additional Government Pleader submitted that as regards the financial irregularities, said to have been committed by Gold Quest International Private Limited, 172 persons have been affected. 172 complaints were received, and 13 FIR's were registered against the said Company. Thereafter, 170 complainants have been compromised by the said company. In respect of remaining 2 complainants, pending on the file the K-4 Sembium Police Station, complainants did not come forward to proceed further. Court closed the said complaints. State preferred an appeal to the High Court, which rejected the same. Settlement pursued
before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, could not succeed later. Thus, the two complaints reached finality.
4. Learned Additional Government Pleader further submitted that Gold Quest International Private Limited, re-entered as, "M/s.Quest Net Enterprises India Private Limited". Complaints have been lodged by the aggrieved persons. Nearly 32,011 complaints have been preferred and after investigation, 10,000 charge sheets have been filed. Here again, talks for the settlement are going on between the complainants and company.
5. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record. 6. Perusal of the material on record discloses that when two complaints were closed, State has preferred a writ petition which was allowed, but the decision was reversed on appeal. Gold Quest International Private Limited, preferred an appeal, before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Vide order, dated 08.09.2014, in Civil Appeal No.8546 of 2014, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, while setting aside the order of the Hon'ble Division Bench order made in W.A.No.1178 of 2005, allowed the civil appeal and thus, the closure of complaints has reached finality. As on today, no matter is pending as against M/s.Quest Net Enterprises India Private Limited. All the complaints are now disposed of and thus, the prayer sought for in the instant writ petition, has become infructuous.
7. In view of the above, writ petition is dismissed. No Costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petitions are closed. Sd/Assistant Registrar(CS-V) //True copy// Sub Assistant Registrar
dm To 1.Chief Secretary State of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu, Fort St. George, Chennai - 9.
2.Home Secretary
State of Tamil Nadu
Government of Tamil Nadu
Fort George, Chennai - 9.
3.Director General of Police
Dr.S.Radhakrishnan Road,
Mylapore, Chennai - 4.
4.The Additional Director General of Police,
CBCID, Guindy, Chennai.
5.The Director,
Central Bureau of Investigation,
8th Floor, Block.III
C.G.O. Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi-3.
+1cc to Government Pleader SR.No.48547
W.P.No.2994 of 2009
and
M.P.Nos.1 and 2 of 2009
CNR(CO)
GMY(22/07/2019)
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the High Court should direct a police investigation to be transferred to the CBI in a concluded matter.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
R. Ramesh Kumar
State of Tamil Nadu
Director General of Police
Central Bureau of Investigation
S. Manikumar
Subramuniam Prasad
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
