HC asks Tirunelveli city police chief to appoint an officer to probe cases against advocate and file a report by January 28

The accused in the case, an advocate by profession, had allegedly forged signatures and filed several cases in consumer forum against the hotel run by petitioner

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tirunelveli Commissioner of Police to appoint a special investigating officer to probe cases filed against an advocate who is said to have impersonated and forged signatures to file false consumer complaints to extract money.

The court was hearing a petition filed in 2023 by A. Hariharan of Tirunelveli, who sought the transfer of the case from Palayamkottai police to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The case of the prosecution was that the petitioner was running a hotel in Tirunelveli. Several complaints were filed before the District Consumer Forum in Tirunelveli against the hotel and the petitioner.

The complaints were filed by Bramanayagam, an advocate, and an accused in the present case. The accused, in order to get money from the petitioner, is said to have impersonated and forged signatures of complainants in the complaints. The accused was in the habit of continuously doing the mischief and threatened the petitioner. The petitioner lodged a complaint and a case was registered. The petitioner had filed the petition before the court complaining that there was no progress made in the case.

The State government told the court that the investigation was completed by the investigating officer. However, the petitioner said the investigation was not done as per law. The investigating officer, in spite of the direction of the court, had not even obtained the signature of the accused, arrest the accused, obtain the specimen signature or get a handwriting expert’s opinion and no witness was examined.

Justice K.K. Ramakrishnan observed that the investigating officer had conducted a biased and unfair investigation which resulted in miscarriage of justice. The victim’s right to a fair investigation was thwarted, the court observed and set aside the final report filed by Palayamkottai police taken on file by Judicial Magistrate, Tirunelveli. It was brought to the notice of the court that similar cases were pending against the accused.

The court directed the Tirunelveli Commissioner of Police to appoint any Assistant Commissioner of Police, City Crime Branch, Tirunelveli City, as a special investigating officer to conduct the investigation in the cases, complete the investigation, and file a report before the court on or before January 27, 2025.

The court directed the Tirunelveli Commissioner of Police to conduct an inquiry and take necessary action against the investigating officer after affording adequate opportunity. The court hoped that a fair investigation would be conducted in the case and posted the matter for reporting compliance on January 28, 2025.

Published - November 23, 2024 08:26 pm IST