HC warns action against TN cops for ‘misconduct’

On being told by advocate Vijayaraghavan that around 100 Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Original Petition (MCOP) claims have been filed with hardcopies of documents prior to them being uploaded in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) in utter disobedience of the High Court order, Justice P N Prakash said, “It is obvious that police officers are in league with some vested interest and are handing over hardcopies of documents to a chosen few, for them to capture the victims and file MCOPs.”

However, recording the submission of Joint Commissioner (Traffic) R Sudhakar that 80 cases have been uploaded in the CCTNS platform in the last few days, the judge said, “This court is constrained to observe that if this court stumbles upon any such deviation in the future, this court will have no other option but to direct the CB-CID to investigate into the allegation and prosecute the police officer and others who were in league with him.”

Also, acceding to the request of the MCOP practitioners, Justice Prakash clarified that in addition to FIR, vehicle registration certificate, insurance policy, driving licence and commercial fitness certificate, the police shall also upload the Motor Vehicle Inspector’s report and the mobile number of the victim or his/her family member.

The court added that the documents need not be shared with anybody only in cases where the investigating officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the incident is not merely an accident but a planned attempt to murder.

The judge noted that the direction to the State to amend the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal Rules and give legal sanctity to the online platform has not been adhered to even after more than a year.

“This is a gross violation of the directions of the Supreme Court dated May 13, 2016 and that of the High Court on September 12, 2017, for which, contempt action can be initiated,” Justice Prakash said.

The court directed the State to scrutinise the Delhi rules and bring forth necessary amendment to the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Accidents Claims Tribunal Rules in consultation with the State Crime Records Bureau to make CCTNS platform workable, granting it time till January 15.