Australian prime minister to hand over two statues again to Indian prime minister, says Ponn Manickavel
A. G. Ponn Manickavel, the special officer appointed by the Madras High Court, confirmed that the Australian prime minister would hand over back two Indian deity statues to our prime minister. On November 27, the retired Tamil Nadu Police Inspector General said this over a phone call to a private news channel. It is after the Tamil Nadu government informed the high court on November 12, that the idols are brought to India by the prime minister and not by Ponn Manickavel.
Ponn Manickavel was the IG Railways and also investigating the idols smuggling from India. After his retirement last year, the Madras High Court appointed him as a special officer of the Idol Wing CID to continue his investigations for one year until November 30, 2019. Against the order, the Tamil Nadu government filed a petition which was dismissed by the Madras High Court. Now the appeal on it by the state government is due for the next hearing on December 2. Also, the extension period, which was also indicated in the previous high court order, is to come up for hearing after the Supreme Court's directive on December 2.