The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Freezing Mutt accounts illegal: High Court

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Saturday, Feb 12, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Freezing Mutt accounts illegal: High Court

By A. Subramani

CHENNAI, FEB. 11. The Madras High Court today termed the freezing of Kanchi Sankara Mutt's bank accounts illegal. It said, "it is not for the special investigation team (SIT) dealing with a murder and assault case to plunge into the accounts of the Mutt and paralyse its functions by invoking Section 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure."

In his 48-page order, Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam set aside the order freezing the 183 accounts. "The reasons to invoke Section 102 in this case are two-fold. First, the Mutt money was paid to killers/hirelings. Secondly, the police have an apprehension that the money could be used for tampering with the witnesses. The first ground relates to the past events and has no relevance to the future functioning of the Mutt. The second one, an apprehension of a future event, can never be a reason for invoking Section 102."

Another perspective that rendered Section 102 inapplicable was that it was the Mutt head, and not the Mutt itself, who was the accused, the judge said. "If there is any personal or individual account of the accused, the police could very well invoke Section 102 against the account. The Mutt or the Trust is an independent body by itself, and can have nothing to do with the commissions and omissions of the head of the Mutt in his personal capacity. His relationship with the Mutt is only in a fiduciary capacity. The property, assets and income of the Mutt belong to the Mutt and not to its head. He has no proprietary or individual rights or interest over the property."

Any contrary interpretation of Section 102 would lead to "unreasonable and shocking situations," Mr. Justice Sivasubramaniam said. It (freezing of accounts) could happen to any organisation and institutions registered under the Societies Registration Act, clubs, political parties, social organisations, etc. "Once the head of the institution is apprehended, the institution can be brought to a grinding halt and the police can, at the stroke of a pen, freeze bank accounts and paralyse the activities of the institution."

The judge said, "Mutts like Kanchi, Thiruvaduthurai, Thirupanandal, Ahobilam, Madurai Adheenam, etc., were established by great saints. The head of the Mutt today may or may not be involved in a crime. But that is no reason to subject the Mutt to such action which would paralyse the Mutt."

SIT cautioned

Reiterating that the scope and applicability of Section 102 should not be used to stifle the activities of the Mutt and other institutions unconnected with the offence, he gave a "word of caution" to the SIT. "If you divert and deviate from the direction, it would cast a deep shadow on SIT." He said that in case of misconduct by the Mutt, it was for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department to look into it and lodge police complaint.

"Having regard to the apprehensions of the police and the agreeability of the Mutt," the judge said the Mutt must submit account statements to the SIT once a month.

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