Madurai is the “capital” of usury: Judge

Wonders how come only 188 cases were booked in last 10 years

Referring to Madurai as the “capital” of usury during the hearing of a case related to it in the Madras High Court Bench here on Monday, Justice N. Kirubakaran wondered how come only a small number of 188 usury cases had been booked by the Madurai city police in the last 10 years.

“I can understand if the police had registered around 180 cases every year. But how come only 188 cases had been booked in the last 10 years?” the judge asked Government Advocate P. Kandasamy after pointing out to the statistics submitted in the court by the Director General of Police on September 15.

He stressed the need for the police to curb the menace of money lenders demanding usurious interest from gullible borrowers who fall into their nets due to helplessness. “Many families commit suicide, men get abducted, women get sexually abused and children get kidnapped because of it,” he said.

The judge had sought for the statistics across the State during the hearing of a petition filed by a litigant seeking a direction to the police to register a case against a usurer at Kariapatti in Virudhunagar district.

It stated that only 20 out of 1,531 usury cases had ended up in conviction in the last 10 years.

Pointing out that the DGP himself had admitted that only five per cent of cases had ended up in conviction, the petitioner’s counsel R. Gandhi said: “This statement is sufficient to order constitution of an exclusive wing to investigate cases booked under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Act 2003.”

Accusing the police of being hand in glove with the usurers, the counsel said: “Even after the High Court had taken cognisance of the issue, very recently when the petitioner was waiting in the DSP’s office for enquiry, the Police Inspector concerned came to the office in a TATA Safari along with the accused.

“This is the attitude of the police. It is only because of this that the usurers trespass into the house of loan defaulters, abuse the women members of the family in the presence of the aged and the children and use all other kinds of coercive measures to extract money,” he added.

After hearing him, the judge adjourned the hearing to Wednesday after directing the police to investigate if the usurer, against whom the petitioner had filed the case, owned hundreds of acres directly and through proxy. “If the Inspector fails to enquire, then the Superintendent of Police would be summoned on Thursday,” he warned.