Venu Srinivasan Faces Fresh Supreme Court Test as Peacock Idol Case Comes Up on September 2

The matter, linked to allegations concerning the replacementof an antique idol at Chennai’s Sri Kapaleeshwarar Temple more than two decades ago, remains alive despite Srinivasan having secured the quashing of the FIR from the Madras High Court in February 2024.

The Supreme Court’s advance list shows that the petition filed by activist Rangarajan Narasimhan against Srinivasan and another is numbered SLP (Crl.) No. 7650/2024. It is listed as a connected matter among a group of cases scheduled for hearing.

The controversy traces its origins to renovation work carried out at the historic Mylapore temple in 2004. Narasimhan, who has pursued the matter for years as an activist and temple devotee, has alleged that an antique peacock idol was illegally replaced during the renovation exercise.

Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company, was associated with a government-constituted committee connected with the temple renovation at the time. The allegations surrounding the idol eventually resulted in the registration of an FIR and later drew the attention of the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing.

The case gained further momentum after the Idol Wing filed its final report naming Srinivasan and others. Srinivasan has firmly denied the allegations and has consistently maintained that he had no role in either an alleged theft or any unauthorised replacement of idols.

His legal position was significantly strengthened when the Madras High Court quashed the FIR in February 2024. But Narasimhan subsequently moved the Supreme Court against that order, challenging the relief granted to Srinivasan and keeping the underlying dispute alive.

The upcoming hearing could therefore prove significant in determining the next course of the litigation. The Supreme Court will have before it the challenge to the High Court’s decision that brought the criminal proceedings to a halt.

If the apex court declines to interfere, Srinivasan’s relief from the High Court would remain intact. But if it reverses the quashing order and restores the proceedings, the case could return to a more active legal phase.

The September 2 hearing will thus be an important development in the Peacock Idol Theft Case, a dispute that has travelled through multiple stages of investigation and litigation since allegations first emerged over the 2004 temple renovation.