CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court has stayed the order of a single judge suspending a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) for failing to file a charge sheet based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The bench comprising Justices M S Ramesh and V Lakshminarayan on Thursday issued the order to temporarily stay the single judge’s order after hearing the letters patent appeals filed by the director general of police (DGP), who challenged the part of the order that directed him to place the officer under suspension and then hold an inquiry, and DSP S Sunil who too challenged the order to suspend him without hearing him out.
The single judge, on July 14, 2025, passed the order based on the petition filed by D Senthamarai, Vanur village, of Villupuram district seeking a direction to the Kottakuppam DSP to expedite the investigation into the FIR registered under the SC/ST Act (in January 2024) and file the charge sheet in the jurisdictional court.
Additional Public Prosecutor E Raj Thilak, appearing for the DGP, submitted the single judge cannot issue such an order to place the DSP under suspension, with the powers conferred under section 482 of CrPC.
Advocate Suhrith Parthasarathy represented the DSP.