February 20, 2019:
On Monday, Justice M.V. Muralidharan, of Madras High court condemned the conduct of the trial courts for not taking on files of 1,72,602 cases even though their charge-sheet was filed within stipulated time.
Justice Muralidaran has directed the trial courts to take up the files of such cases and commence the trial immediately without any further delay.
While, warning the Judicial Magistrates for not taking on file the 1.72 lakh chargesheets filed by police from 2010 to 2018, the Madras high court says the information provided by the Director-General of Police (DGP) has shocked the conscience of the court.
Calling it a matter of grave concern, Justice Muralidharan says, "A bare reading of the report furnished by the DGP shows that in 2010 alone 1,778 cases have not been taken on file by the trial courts for reasons best known to them. This court by no stretch of imagination can approve such conduct on the part of magistrates. In all, from 2010 to 2018, the trial court have not taken on file 1,72,602 cases and such conduct is highly condemnable and hampers the very cause of justice."
The judge adds, "This court is unable to presume as to how many accused are scot-free because of such lacuna on part of the magistrates. This is a matter of grave concern and this court proposes to take appropriate action against such magistrates."
Noting that no accused should go unpunished, the court directed district judges to issue appropriate instructions to magistrates concerned to take such cases on file and commence trial immediately.
The issue pertains to the closure of 87 FIRs by Avinashi judicial magistrate at one stroke on the grounds that police failed to file the chargesheet within the time stipulated by law. Expressing shock over the incident, Justice Muralidaran orders further probe and has sought data from all magistrates across the state. The court was informed that 2,14,901 FIRs were closed on such grounds across the state in just five years - between 2008 and 2014.
As per the report, Kancheepuram topped the list with 28,573 FIRs closed followed by Madurai with 26,351 and Cuddalore with 14,310 FIRs. In Chennai 13,836, FIRs registered in the period were closed.
An irked Justice Muralidaran wondered whether the Tamil Nadu police was doing any work at all.
When the plea came up for hearing, the DGP filed a report saying more than 1.72 lakh cases had not been taken on file by the magistrates concerned, and in many cases the chargesheets were filed on time.
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