CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has expressed dismay and shock over the long delay in completing investigations into criminal cases registered against history-sheeters, stating that such ‘unexplained delay’ would embolden them to continue perpetrating offences.
Finding lapses on the part of the investigating officers, a division bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and M. Jothiraman emphasised the need for action ‘on a war footing’ to take the cases to their logical conclusions.
“If the police authorities take more than a decade even to complete the investigation, this Court is afraid of when the trial will be concluded and the offenders will be punished. The criminal justice delivery system must instil confidence in the public and ensure that offenders are punished through due process within a reasonable time,” the bench said.
Referring to the lapses in the investigation process due to the negligence of the investigating officers, the bench observed, “These serious lapses would, in the opinion of this Court, undoubtedly embolden the offenders to commit further offences.”
The observations were made on a habeas corpus petition seeking to quash the detention of a history-sheeter, Nagaraj @ Pambu Nagaraj, under the Goondas Act by the Avadi city police.
Perusing the details of 26 cases against the detenue, the bench noted that a murder case registered in 2016 has been pending till now, and some other criminal cases registered in 2014 and 2015 are also pending.
It suo motu impleaded the Director General of Police (DGP) and directed him to review the progress made in cases under investigation and file a report on the action taken regarding the lapses in completing investigations and prosecuting the offenders.
The bench said, “Any lackadaisical approach by the investigating officer or the reviewing authority at the district level should be viewed seriously by the Director General of Police and the Government.”
It also suggested setting up dedicated special squads at the taluk, district, and state levels to conduct investigations into grave crime cases by employing modern scientific and technological methods.
The bench also flagged the long delay in ‘taking on the file’ the cases by the trial courts. It said that if there are long delays, the matter can be taken up with either the principal district judges or the High Court, as the case may be.