Lapse in probe affects trust in judiciary: Madras High Court
The bench wondered when the trial would conclude and when the offenders would be punished, if the police took over a decade to complete the investigation.
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the State to file an affidavit on the lapses of police in conducting an investigation after being shocked by a submission that the investigation against an A-plus category accused has been dragging for nearly a decade.
The division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and M Jothiraman wrote that it cannot accept enormous unexplained delays in completing the investigation, filing charge sheets and conducting trials. The justice delivery system must instil confidence in the public that offenders are punished through due process in a reasonable period, they said while hearing the plea challenging the order against the A-plus category offender.
The bench wondered when the trial would conclude and when the offenders would be punished, if the police took over a decade to complete the investigation.
The bench wrote that delay in investigation put several pending criminal cases before the courts and suo motu impleaded the Director General of Police to address the issue. The order read that any passive approach by the investigating officer or reviewing authority at the district level should be viewed seriously by the State and DGP to ensure citizen’s confidence in the judicial system.
The bench also advised the adoption of technical and scientific methods in the investigation to meet the needs of the current day as offences become complex; hence, the DGP may constitute dedicated teams for timely probes. As the government advocate raised difficulty citing jurisdictional courts taking time to scrutinise the final report and other documents, the bench held that judicial officers must be sensitised on analysing the chargesheet promptly.
“The judicial officers are expected to dedicate time to completing this work since the delay is causing great prejudice to the criminal law delivery system,” wrote the bench.
If judicial officers commit an inordinate delay in scrutinising the final reports, the bench grants liberty to the police department to approach the principal district judge or High Court. The directions were issued while hearing a petition moved by Gaja Lakshmi, wife of an A-plus criminal, Nagaraj, assailing the detention order invoked on the offender. Nagaraj is booked in 26 cases, and investigation is underway for some cases registered in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The bench also directed the State to file an affidavit regarding framing the witness protection scheme under BNSS section 398 and posted the matter to January 30 for further proceedings.