The Madras High Court has “highly deprecated” the investigating officers in criminal cases for taking the court “for a ride” by not furnishing proper instructions to the office of the Public Prosecutor through responsible officials in the rank of Sub Inspector of Police and above.
Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira wrote: “It is painful to note that when the court is inclined to spare its precious time to render justice to poor litigants and the government law officers take much efforts to conduct the cases, proper instruction from the investigating officers is not forthcoming in many cases.”
He went on to state, “They [investigating officers] rather function in an uncommitted manner by sending police personnel without even proper instructions thereby wasting public money, abusing manpower and freezing the precious time of the court which is highly intolerable and to be viewed seriously.”
The observations were made while passing interim orders on a petition filed by an automobile financier seeking a direction from Tiruppur South police to arrest five individuals who had cheated him after obtaining a loan. The petitioner also wanted the police to complete the investigation and file a charge sheet on his complaint pending since 2017.
When the petition was listed for hearing before the judge, a Head Constable from Tiruppur was present in the court in connection with the matter but he had no instructions to provide to the Government Advocate V. Meganathan. The Head Constable had not even brought along with him the Case Diary (CD) for perusal.
Additional Public Prosecutor A. Gokulakrishnan told the court that though the prosecutor’s office intimates the investigating officers concerned to not depute officials below the rank of Sub Inspectors of Police, along with the CD, to give instructions, the request is not heeded in many cases.
After recording the submissions, the judge wrote: “The present case itself is filed only aggrieved against the red-tapism of the respondent police in not taking any action on the complaint of the petitioner even after lapse of five years though a perusal of the complaint reveals very serious offences alleged against the accused.
“While so, even when the court expects the investigating officer to apprise the progress in the case, a Head Constable alone is being sent to the court all the way from Tiruppur without even proper instruction or the CD. It discloses the lethargic manner in which the investigating officer is functioning.”
He also said, “The practice of deputing a policeman without any proper instruction or CD and making him travel for a long distance wasting the public money is not only of no use but also very much condemnable and to be curtailed.”
The judge directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to take note of the issue. The DGP was directed to issue suitable instructions to the officers under his control and ensure that the attitude of the investigating officers gets changed. He was ordered to ensure that the police officers appear before the court with proper instructions or depute personnel well acquainted with the details of the case concerned.
