Tamil Nadu   

Police officers directed to look into administration of crime branch

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has issued a direction to the Commissioner of Police to look into the administration of the crime branch, and to the Director-General of Police with regard to the District Crime Branch.

Dismissing an anticipatory bail petition, Justice R. Regupathi said when complaints were lodged in property disputes, it appeared that prima facie on the basis of it, cases should be registered for investigation. The Supreme Court and the High Court had repeatedly held that if a cognisable offence was made out at first sight of a complaint, the police were duty-bound to register a case and investigate.

The investigating officer, under the guise of petition enquiry, receives the complaint, but does not register the case. A repeated complaint from the Bar is that ‘panchayats’ are being conducted at various levels in police stations. Initially, such complaints are kept pending so that the accused will be driven to the court to get relief.

Misled by submissions that the matter is not serious enough and, therefore, a petition enquiry is being conducted, the courts grant relief to the accused by way of anticipatory bail. After the grant of anticipatory bail, cases are registered to please the complainant and satisfy the accused.

The Judge said the matters reported before the court were very serious, involving crores of rupees. Such types of complaints were on the increase, especially because of escalation in land prices and disputes regarding lands in and around Chennai. Unless the Commissioner of Police and the DGP took a serious note of the happenings, enforcement of law and order at the grassroots level would become a mockery.

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