Sukesh was arrested for allegedly trying to bribe Election Commission officials to obtain Two Leaves symbol for TTV Dhinakaran faction. During searches in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, I-T had seized four cars including the Rolls Royce, alleging that Sukesh had purchased these through Karthikeyan, a dealer.

But in a complaint to RS Puram police, Coimbatore, one Aravind Shaw, in whose name the Rolls Royce is registered, alleged that the car was given to Karthikeyan for showing it to a prospective buyer. But he neither paid the amount nor returned the car. Based on this, the police filed a petition before the Judicial Magistrate seeking a written order to the I-T department to produce the car for further investigation.

“The question is whether Karthik had cheated Aravind or not for which the car is not an essential piece of evidence, especially when it came to the notice of the inspector that the car has been seized by the I-T department and it is in their lawful custody. Since the Inspector and the I-T department did not place the full facts before the Judicial Magistrate, the impugned order was passed,” Justice PN Prakash pointed out.

The court also recorded its displeasure and the cavalier way the counter was filed, noting: “The [I-T] department must learn to respect the judiciary and should have placed all the facts before the Judicial Magistrate.”