Madras HC says T.N. Home Secretary must appear before it or face arrest warrant

Justice P. Velmurugan warns that he would issue an arrest warrant if the officer did not appear by 4:30 p.m. on Friday or obtain a stay by then from the Supreme Court

The Madras High Court on Friday (January 31, 2025) refused to dispense with the appearance of Tamil Nadu Home Secretary Dheeraj Kumar, who had been summoned to apprise the court of numerous instances of the police not registering First Information Reports (FIRs) promptly, not completing the investigation within a reasonable time, and not filing final reports before the jurisdictional magistrates concerned.

Justice P. Velmurugan said, the Home Secretary should either appear in person by 4:30 p.m. or obtain a stay from the Supreme Court by then. Else, an arrest warrant would be issued against him, the judge warned. The court had summoned him only to highlight the travails faced by the poor while approaching the police to ventilate their grievances and not of those “sitting in ivory towers.”

In his order directing the appearance of the Home Secretary, the judge had written: “This court does not know as to whether the concerned Secretary to Government is aware of the illegal practices prevailing in the police department, which are causing much inconvenience to the poor litigant/public and hence, this court is directing the Home Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, to appear before this court on January 31, 2025.”

The interim order was passed on a petition filed by P. Sundar, 53, a dealer of building construction materials at Virugambakkam in Chennai. The petitioner said he had taken a vacant land on rent about 12 years ago to utilise it as a godown. In 2007, he offered to purchase the property for a total consideration of ₹25 lakh and claimed to have paid ₹12.5 lakh in advance.

However, the landlord, in a volte-face after the acceptance of the advance amount, began demanding ₹60 lakh before the execution of the sale deed, he alleged. The petitioner also said he had filed a civil suit in 2013 and obtained an interim injunction against evicting him from the property. In 2015, some goons trespassed into his godown and damaged property, he alleged.

Though an FIR was registered immediately with regard to the attack, the Virugambakkam police had not completed the investigation and filed a final report even after nine years, he complained. On the other hand, the prosecution told the court that the FIR was closed in 2015, but the negative final report was not filed before the jurisdictional judicial magistrate concerned.

Irked over the submission, Justice Velmurugan had said, this was not an isolated incident. He had pointed out the High Court was flooded with petitions seeking directions to the police to either register FIRs or to complete the investigation and file final reports, though it was the statutory obligation of the police personnel to perform such actions without expecting court orders to do so.

The judge had gone on to express his anguish that even in cases where the courts issue specific directions to complete the investigation and file final reports, the police did not obey its orders. Stating that only people with the economic wherewithal would be able to file such petitions and obtain directions, the judge had said that the plight of the poor was worse.

“The complainants/poor litigants, who are unable to approach the court due to poor financial situation/poverty, are struggling to get justice. In some of the cases, even after directions of the court also, the police officers are not following the procedures and the directions of the court. One way or the other, some of the police officials are functioning arbitrarily and not for the public,” the judge had observed.

Published - January 31, 2025 12:23 pm IST