"Not Everyone Can Come To Court": Madras High Court Asks TN Home Secretary To Ensure Prompt Filing Of FIR, Final Reports

The Madras High Court on Friday asked the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary to ensure that FIRs and Final Reports are filed by the police department promptly after following due procedures of law.

Justice P Velmurugan also dispensed with the appearance of Home Secretary Dheeraj Kumar whom he had instructed to appear personally. The court also told the Home Secretary that it did not intend to summon him but rather wanted the Home Secretary to be aware of the ground realities and the problems faced by the common people. The court added that not every person could approach the court seeking directions for prompt filing of the FIR and Final Report and it was upon the department to ensure that the public is not put to trouble.

On 29th January, the court had directed the Home Secretary to appear today. When the case was taken up in the court's morning session, the Additional Advocate General requested the court to dispense with the Home Secretary's presence. The court, however, did not accept this request and said that it would be forced to issue a warrant against the Home Secretary if he did not appear before the court by 4:30 pm. Following this, the Home Secretary personally appeared before the court and appraised the court of the steps taken by the department to ensure proper compliance with the law. 

The court was hearing a petition filed by Sundar seeking directions to the Inspector of Virugambakkam Police Station to file a final report in a case that was registered against him in 2015 under Sections 147,148, 448, and 506(ii) of the IPC.

During the hearing, the Government Advocate informed the court that the investigation in the case was closed in 2015, but the police had not filed a final report yet before the Magistrate concerned. 

Noting that it was not the first instance where there were lapses on the part of the police, the court said that in many cases, the Police was not filing final report before the Magistrate. The court added that as per law, as and when the investigation was conducted, the materials collected had to be presented before the Magistrate concerned. However, the court noted that in Tamil Nadu, the police were not filing final reports within the period of limitation. 

The court added that due to the lackadaisical attitude of the state police force, the poor litigant was struggling to get justice. The court observed that not all aggrieved persons could approach the court to get directions to submit the final report or to expedite the investigation and remarked that the police had been functioning arbitrarily. 

"In some of the cases, even after directions of the Court also, the police officials 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 public. All the aggrieved person cannot approach the Court for getting directions to register the case, to file Final Report and to expedite the investigation," the court had observed.

In light of these circumstances, the court had directed the Home Secretary to appear before the court. 

Case Title: P Sundar v The Inspector of Police

Case No: Crl OP 2026 of 2025