HC ensures home secy’s presence; orders timely filing of FIRs

Chennai: State home secretary Dheeraj Kumar appeared before Madras high court on Friday, hours after the court declined to dispense with his appearance and warned it would be constrained to issue a warrant against him
Acknowledging his presence, Justice P Velmurugan directed the officer to ensure that FIRs and final reports are filed by the police promptly, following due procedures. He then dispensed with the appearance. The judge had on Thursday directed the home secretary to appear in person in court to explain the delay on the part of police in filing FIRs and final reports even in decade-old cases.
The court did not intend to summon the secretary but wanted him to be aware of ground realities and problems faced by common people, Justice Velmurugan said. "Not every person can approach the high court seeking directions for prompt filing of FIR and final report. It is the duty of the department to ensure that people are not put in trouble," the judge said.
The issue pertains to a plea moved by P Sundar against the Virugambakkam police, for a direction to file the final report in a land dispute complaint registered in 2015. When the plea came up for hearing on Friday morning, the govt side requested the court to dispense with his appearance. Refusing to accept the request, the court warned that it would issue an arrest warrant against the secretary if he failed to appear by 4.30pm on Friday.
Following the order, the secretary appeared before the court. Earlier, the court observed that poor litigants are struggling to get justice because the police are not following basic procedures and not filing FIR and final report in the stipulated time.
Justice Velmurugan said: "We do not know whether the home secretary is aware of the illegal practice prevailing in the police department. It is a well-settled proposition of law that after the completion of the investigation, police have to file the final report before the magistrate concerned within the stipulated time. However, in many cases, the police are not following the procedure."
"The state police is functioning arbitrarily instead of serving the public. Even after several directions from the court, they are not following the procedure to file the final report," the court said.