S.Annadurai v. State Rep By Its The Inspector Of Police.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 18-08-2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE N. SATHISH KUMAR
1. S.Annadurai S/o. Sundaramoorthi, No.1, Erikkaraisangam Street, Aranganthapuram. Tambaram West, Chennai 600 045.
Petitioner(s) Vs
1. State Rep by its The Inspector of Police.
Tambaram Police Station, Chennai District. 600 045 Crime No.233 of 2023 Respondent(s) PRAYER : Petition filed under Section 528 of BNSS, to direct the Respondent to file the final report under Section 193 of BNSS in Crime No.233 of 2023 before the Competent Court within the time stipulated by this Honble Court and pass such further or other orders as this Honble court may deem fit and proper in the fact and circumstances of the case and thus render Justice. For Petitioner(s):
G.Mohammed Aseef S.Kalaimani R.Shakthi Priya Z.Rifa Fathima
S.Gokulakrishnan K.Praveen Raj J.Raviprakash S.Syed Ismail For Respondent(s):
Mr.R.Vinoth Raja, Govt. Advocate (Crl.Side)
ORDER
This Petition has been filed to direct the respondent to file the final report under Section 193 of BNSS in Crime No.233 of 2023 before the Competent Court within the time stipulated by this Hon'ble Court and pass such further or other orders as this Hon'ble court may deem fit and proper in the fact and circumstances of the case and thus render Justice. 2.The learned Government Advocate (Crl.Side) appearing for the respondent submitted that the investigation has been completed and final report has been filed on 20.12.2024 before the learned Judicial Magistrate - I, Tambaram.
3.By recording the above submission of the learned Government Advocate (Crl.Side), this Criminal Original Petition is closed.
4.At this juncture, learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) brought to the notice of this Court that, pursuant to the introduction of e-filing system of final reports with effect from 15.09.2023 by the High Court of Madras vide R.O.C.No.75085A/2023/Comp3, dated 24.08.2023, to digitise the whole system, final reports are being filed by the Police by way of e-filing, however, several final reports have not been taken on file by the Courts concerned. He would further submit that, as per the statistical report given by Mr.Asra Garg, I.P.S., Inspector General of Police, North Zone, Chennai, the total number of final reports filed through e-filing which are not taken on file as on 15.06.2025 in the State of Tamil Nadu (zone-wise), are as follows : S.
No.
Zones Total e-filed final reports which are not taken on file as on 15.06.2025 North Zone (Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallkurichi, Cuddalore, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Tiruvannamalai) 45927 North Zone (Thiruvallur) (as on 21.07.2025)
Central Zone (Trichy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Karur, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam) 25353 West Zone (Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, Nilgiris) 32937 South Zone (Madurai, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari) 50112 Cities (Trichy, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Tirupur) 22490 5.It is relevant to note that the Madurai Bench of this Court had earlier got seized of this issue of discrepancy between the number of final reports filed by the Police authorities and those taken on file by the Courts, even in the erstwhile manual filing of final reports, while adjudicating a Contempt Petition in Cont.P.(MD) No.728 of 2022 in Crl.O.P.(MD) No.29 of 2022, and had passed several orders insisting the following :
i. The Court concerned shall acknowledge the receipt of the final report once it is filed;
ii. Whenever final report is filed, it shall not be returned, even if it is defective, but the concerned Police shall be duly notified to rectify the defects;
iii. The final report which is free of defects shall be taken on file within three days;
iv. Failure to follow any of the above shall be brought to the notice of the concerned Principal District Judge/Chief Judicial Magistrate by the concerned Superintendent of Police.
6.However, it is brought to the notice of this Court that, even after introduction of e-filing system of final reports to overcome the practical difficulties faced in manual filing, discrepancies do exist as indicated above. This issue was gone into by the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court in Crl.O.P.(MD) No.12922 of 2025, wherein, this Court by order dated 04.08.2025, directed the Registry to extract and furnish a report generated from the e-filing portal showing the number of final reports that are yet to be taken on file as on the date of the order, in respect of the Magistrate Courts within the
jurisdiction of the Madurai Bench of this Court. 7.The statistics as furnished in the report filed by the Inspector General of Police, is in fact shocking. The number of final reports filed through e-filing which are yet to be taken on file throughout the State, is alarming and requires immediate attention. If the given statistics are true and if such huge number of final reports are allowed to rest virtually without being taken on file or rectified in case of defect(s), this Court is of the view that it would certainly impede the very criminal justice system of the State.
8.Therefore, the Registrar General of this Court is directed to call for the following particulars from all the Districts throughout the State and file a comprehensive report before this Court within a period of 15 days from the date of this order :
i. Total number of final reports filed through the e-filing portal since 15.09.2023;
ii. Number of final reports that are yet to be taken on file as on date.
9.Post the matter for reporting compliance on 03.10.2025. 18-08-2025 Index:Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order Internet:Yes gsk/mkn Note to Registry : Issue order copy on 22.08.2025. To 1.The Registrar General, High Court, Madras.
2.The Inspector of Police, Tambaram Police Station, Chennai District. 600 045 3.The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.
N.SATHISH KUMAR J.
gsk/mkn CRL OP No. 22823 of 18-08-2025