CCB cases: CoP George to appear in court tomorrow

As per the cause list he has been intimated to appear before Justice S Vaidyanathan on Monday. 

On August 22, 2016, Justice Vaidyanathan while granting bail to an accused, passed an order directing the Commissioner of Police to submit a status report of cases pending before the Central Crime Branch (CCB) up to 2011 to the Registrar General of the Madras High Court.

The direction had come about after the prosecution told the judge that owing to police inaction investigation remains incomplete in most of the cases and due to this charge sheet has not been filed in several cases including the ones dealt by CCB. It was also pointed out that several cases booked since 2011 continue to gather dust. 

Based on this submission, the Judge besides seeking for a status report with regard to cases pending since 2011, also directed the High Court Registry to send a communication to the Commissioner of Police, seeking him to instruct all police stations to investigate such old cases pertaining to heinous crimes as expeditiously as possible and file charge sheets within two months. 

The order also made it clear that the Commissioner shall ensure that those cases are categorised under separate heads to enable the High Court ascertain as to whether the police personnel involved in the delay had a share in the crime amounts and also fix the nexus between the police and accused. 

Further, Justice S Vaidyanathan had also clarified that if the report was not filed by the concerned authorities, the Commissioner of Police would have to appear before the High Court and explain verbally as to why it was not filed and thereafter in writing as well. 

But till date with the report not being filed, the cause list of Justice S Vaidyanathan’s Court has listed the appearance of the Commissioner of Police on March 20, 2017.