Madras HC rejects advance bail to 70-year-old man for stealing river sand

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday dismissed anticipatory bail petition filed by a Kerala-based man, who was booked for stealing river sand from Tirunelveli.

The petitioner, T Manuvel George (70) of Kottayam, had obtained permission from the Tirunelveli authorities to have a stock yard in Kallidaikurichi village for storing minerals. However, he exploited the permit by quarrying over 11,000 units of river sand illegally and transporting it to Kerala.

He was imposed with a penalty of nearly Rs 9 crore by the revenue officials last year and a criminal case was registered against him. Apprehending arrest in the said case, George approached the court seeking advance bail.

When the petition came for hearing before Justice B Pugalendhi, George’s counsel sought permission to withdraw the petition saying the FIR number mentioned in the petition was wrong. 

However, Justice Pugalendhi rejected the request considering the gravity of the offence involved. He also noted that a division bench of the court had recently ordered CB-CID probe in the case since it was found that many government officials have also connived with the accused.