Chennai: In a strongly worded judgment, the Madras High Court has directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against five IPS officers for dereliction of duty during their tenures as Superintendents of Police in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. Justice P. Velmurugan, who presided over the case, said the officers had failed in their supervisory role by allowing police officials to close criminal complaints without following due legal procedures.
The court also ordered departmental action against 11 Inspectors who served at Kullanchavadi police station since 2015 and instructed the Director General of Police (DGP) to overhaul the way police complaints are recorded and closed in the state.
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Failure to Ensure Filing of Final Reports
The issue came to light in connection with a criminal complaint registered in 2015, which was closed by police in 2017 without filing a final report before a magistrate, as required under law.
The judge criticized the five IPS officers who served as Cuddalore SPs during or after the period the complaint was registered:
- P. Saravanan
- M. Sree Abhinav
- S. Sakthi Ganesan
- R. Rajaram
- S. Jeyakumar (current SP, since January 3, 2025)
Justice Velmurugan noted that had the officers carried out regular reviews, the violation would not have occurred. “Their failure to take such steps reflects a clear dereliction of duty and constitutes a serious lapse in supervisory responsibility,” he observed.
List of SPs and Current Roles
The court was informed that the late C. Vijayakumar served as Cuddalore SP from June 2015 to July 2018. Subsequently, the five aforementioned officers served the district.
It was also noted:
- Abhinav is currently Assistant Director, SVPNPA, Hyderabad.
- Sakthi Ganesan is SP, National Investigation Agency (NIA).
- R. Rajaram is SP, Thanjavur.
Court Orders Reforms and Accountability
Justice Velmurugan lamented that this was not an isolated incident, and such lapses have been repeated despite judicial warnings. To prevent such issues, he issued strict guidelines to the DGP/Head of Police Force:
- No case is to be marked ‘closed’ without filing a final report before a jurisdictional magistrate.
- Intimations must be sent to both complainants and suspects.
- SHO must maintain proper records of such closures.
- Discrepancies between police station data and Court Management System (CMS) records will be treated as serious lapses.
- Disciplinary action must be taken against Investigating Officers and SHOs who fail to comply.
The DGP has also been directed to issue a comprehensive circular within four weeks to all police units to ensure strict compliance.
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Court Seeks Action Taken Report
The High Court has sought an Action Taken Report within three months from the DGP regarding the disciplinary action against the named officers and the implementation of the new directives.
