The Madras High Court had expressed its satisfaction by the modus operandi of the Investigation Officer (I.O.) and suspension of the accused DGP would restore more confidence in the present Sexual harassment case which involve larger public interest.
“The State has immediately acted upon the same and the delinquent officer has been placed under suspension with immediate effect. This positive action on the part of the State will bring in a lot of confidence in the investigation that is conducted by a subordinate officer. This positive stand taken by the State will also reinforce the confidence in the minds of the general public who are keenly watching the progress of the investigation in this case.”
The above observation was made by the Single-judge bench of Madras High Court, comprising of the Justice N Anand Venkatesh while dealing with the suo motu matter filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the CB-CID to effectively conduct the investigation in Crime No.1 of 2021, duly monitored by this Hon'ble Court and for a further direction to submit periodical status report on the progress made in the investigation before this Court and to complete the investigation as expeditiously as possible.
Court Reasoning & Judgment
The Court made perusal of affidavit submitted by the counsel on behalf of the IO. The affidavit stated that 87 witnesses were examined.
The Court granted time period of 8 weeks to the IO to file the final report of the case and observed that:
“The I.O. has spent a lot of energy and time in this case, and it is apparent from the fact that within such a short time, the I.O. has recorded the statements of nearly 87 witnesses apart from recording the statements of the accused persons. This Court hopes that the I.O. will be able to complete the investigation and file a Final Report before the concerned court within a period of 8 weeks.”
The Counsel on the behalf of the accused DGP submitted that this case involves a larger conspiracy against the DGP. The Court reiterated that:
“It must be mentioned here that the accused persons may not have any locus standi to insist the Court to take into consideration, his stand in the case, during the course of investigation. During this period, the Court is not deciding on the merits of the case and this Court is only monitoring the progress made in the investigation. The defence of the accused person comes into play only during the course of trial in criminal case”.
The Court also laid emphasis on the case of Manohar Lal Sharma v. The Principle Secretary and Ors in which Supreme Court held that:
“it very clear that investigation is within the domain of the police and courts ordinarily do not interfere unless it is done in breach of statutory provision which puts personal liberty or property of the citizen in jeopardy, by improper use of power or abuse of power or it is tainted with animosity.”
The Bench granted 8 weeks time to IO for submission of the final report and submit it at the earliest and also stated that:
“this is only a tentative time fixed by this Court and if there is any difficulty in filing the Final Report within the stipulated time, the same can be brought to the notice of this Court and this Court will extend the time. Time limits should not lead to a hasty investigation and therefore, what is important in this case, is to conduct an effective investigation.”
This petition is post on 30.04.2021 for filing further status report and next hearing.
Case Details
Case: W.P.No.6591 of 2021
Petitioner: Suo Motu
Respondent: Government of India & Ors
Counsels for the Respondents: Mr. N. Ramesh, Mr. Jayaprakash Narayanan & Mr. M. Mohamed Muzammil
Quorum: Justice N Anand Venkatesh
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