MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court restricted law officers from summoning investigation officers (IOs) to courts for every case hearing, observing that the latter were being made to spend most of their time in courts to appear in cases filed by the accused.
The court further directed the state home department to set up video conferencing facility at the offices of the law officers at High Court and District Court level, so that the law officers could virtually verify the records submitted by the IOs, without requiring the latter's appearance in courts.
Also, noting that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) lacks manpower and vehicles, the court directed the state government to address said difficulties and advised IOs to refer and examine a limited number of witnesses during a trial.
Justice B Pugalendhi gave the directions while disposing of petitions filed by the victims of two chit fund fraud cases registered by the EOW in Dindigul and Madurai. In the Dindigul case, Udhayam Chits company had allegedly cheated over 300 people of a total of Rs 10 crore, after collecting deposits promising higher returns. As the investigation is still pending, the victims moved the high court last year. The judge directed the IO to complete the investigation as expeditiously as possible.
The other case pertained to PG Marketing and Agro Tech Company Ltd, and its sister concerns, which had allegedly committed a similar fraud. The case, registered in 2013, has been under trial since 2016, prompting the victims to approach the court.
Since the trial judge informed that the court was unable to conduct further trial as the properties of the suspects have not yet been identified by the investigation agency, Justice Pugalendhi directed the latter to complete the proceedings and ensure that the trial attains its conclusion.