CHENNAI : In the wake of divergent views taken by the judges on the issue of investigation in situations where a case and and counter-case filed by the police based on complaints from opposing parties in a same dispute, Justice N Anand Venkatesh of Madras High Court has referred the matter to a larger bench to decide whether it is mandatory for the police to hold proper investigation to find out the truth and file a single charge sheet.
He directed the registry of the high court to place the case documents before the chief justice to refer to a larger bench to take a decision.
The questions to be considered and decided by the larger bench included whether the police are required to mandatorily follow the procedure prescribed in Police Standing Order (PSO) 566, which demand that the investigating officer concerned should find the real aggressor through a thorough investigation on both the complaint and the counter complaint filed by opposing parties on the same incident.
The reference to the larger bench was suggested by Justice Venkatesh recently when a petition seeking to quash a charge sheet filed in a case and counter-case came up for hearing.