Chennai High Court’s Justice Anitha Sumanth reserved the order on a peculiar case, where two bureaucrats who had once tied the knot with each other, the former Director General of Police, Mr. Rajesh Das (petitioner), and his estranged wife and now the Tamil Nadu Energy Secretary, Ms. Beela Venkatesan (1997 batch IAS officer), have been fighting over the ownership of a bungalow at Thaiyur. On Ms. Venkatesan’s prodding, the power supply to the bungalow had been disconnected, leaving ex-DGP Rajesh Das (1989 batch) in much discomfort.
Ms. Venkatesan’s advocate, Mr. P Wilson, claimed that ex-DGP Rajesh Das had no right to seek restoration of power supply to the disputed bungalow, which was disconnected following an application made by Ms. Venkatesan as Mr. Das allegedly had no rights over the property.
Mr. Das’ advocate, Mr. V Prakash, on the other hand, explained that even though the land was in Ms. Venkatesan’s name, the housing loan was being repaid by Mr. Das. When the judge asked whether Ms. Venkatesan was ready for mediation on the matter, her counsel said that she had declined the proposal.
