MADURAI: Appreciating the Director General of Police (DGP) for issuing a circular to review criminal cases not taken on file by lower courts due to defects in final reports, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday said the circular should be implemented strictly and separate departmental proceedings should be initiated against officials not adhering to it.
Justice B Pugalendhi observed, “Mere issuance of a circular alone would not serve the purpose. It has to be implemented strictly by the officials. Failure to follow circulars, directions or instructions issued by higher authorities should be dealt with by separate disciplinary proceedings. Only then would the system stand the test of time.”
The judge made the observations on a petition filed by eight persons, who were booked by the Madurai police for waylaying and abusing some police officers in 2012. The petitioners filed a plea in 2023 to quash the FIR, but the same was closed by the high court last year, after the police submitted that the investigation was over and the final report had already been filed.
However, when the petitioners approached the lower court seeking a copy of the final report, they were informed that it was not filed. Alleging the police made a false statement, the eight persons filed another petition seeking to recall the closure order passed in their quash petition.
The additional public prosecutor informed the court that the final report filed by the police was returned by the court due to certain defects. The judge noted that the report was already filed after an 11-year delay, and it has not been taken on file, citing defects.
He recalled that another single judge of the court, who had faced a similar issue in a contempt petition, issued a series of directions with the cooperation of the then Inspector General of Police (South Zone), which helped reduce the pendency of final reports.
In a previous order issued in the case, Justice Pugalendhi, pointing out the recurrence of the issue, had observed that a victim of a crime is depending upon the investigation as well as the prosecuting agency for the redressal of their grievances.
“The role of the investigation agency would not end at the mere filing of a final report. It has to ensure that the prosecution is conducted effectively,” he added. Based on the observation, the DGP issued a circular on January 20 to review criminal cases not taken on file. Since the final report filed in the petitioners’ case was taken on file by the court concerned, the petition was disposed of.