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lawyers friend (na)     25 August 2008

latest judgment of chennai high court on criminal cases file by banks

HC: Don't refer civil nature for police investigation

“Transfer cases of civil disputes to High Court”

K.T.Sangameswaran

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Registry to withdraw cases all over the State involving disputes of civil nature in which magistrates have ordered police investigation, call for the records and transfer them to the High Court.

Passing further orders on two criminal original petitions, Justice R. Regupathi said the Registry should place the entire material and particulars before the Chief Justice for orders for an enquiry in those matters. Further proceedings of all those cases pending with the magistrates concerned were stayed till the disposal of the proceedings by the court.

The judge said all records, including vigilance reports, might be placed before the Chief Justice for taking appropriate departmental action against the magistrates, in particular III, X, XVII and XVIII Metropolitan Magistrates, Chennai, and Judicial Magistrate-III, Coimbatore and Judicial Magistrate, Paramakudi.

The DGP was directed to instruct police officers who had received orders from the magistrates in such cases under section 156 (3) of the Cr.P.C and the Station House Officers (SHOs) who had entertained similar complaints in the name of “petition enquiry” to obtain opinion from the Director-General/Additional Director-General of Prosecution/Assistant Public Prosecutors and to file interim/final reports before the jurisdiction magistrates within two weeks. The DGP should file compliance report in three weeks.

Earlier, Justice Regupathi had directed the Registrar (Vigilance), High Court, to collect statistics of private complaints relating to credit cards, personal loans, housing loans, hire-purchase loans and default in payment of instalments and cases under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, wherein orders for police investigation were passed by magistrates. Accordingly, the Registrar submitted a report.

The judge said the huge number of cases entertained by the six magistrates was quite alarming.

Mr. Justice Regupathi said some judicial magistrates, in collusion with complainant bankers/financial institutions, were entertaining complaints relating to matters of civil nature and passed orders, under section 156 (3) of the Cr.P.C., for police investigation to the undue benefit of financial institutions. In some instances, they were entertaining similar complaints under section 200 of the Cr.P.C.

Vigilance inquiries were conducted, and the complaints entertained were quashed by the High Court. Despite the High Court’s reaction and repeated directives to judicial magistrates not to refer matters of civil nature for police investigation, it had come to light that such trend was still in vogue.



Learning

 5 Replies

K.C.Suresh (Advocate)     26 August 2008

Its the foundation of criminal jurisprudence there must be mens rea in the acts. In civil matters there is no mens rea. So the it is the law of the land that if the matter is civil let the police sideline the matter and advise accordingly.

lawyers friend (na)     26 August 2008

sir, i want know bank file 2 criminal cases in COURT OF X Metropolitan Magistrates, Chennai.U/S 420,406.SOME ONE SAY MY CASE ALSO BE ON STAY AS PER THIS JUGDMENT...CAN U HELP ME SIR....THIS JUDGMENT WILL HELP ME?

ajay kumar (unemop)     27 August 2008









IS THIS JUGDMENT HELP IN ANY CASE CRIMINAL NATURE FILED BY BANKS ON THIRE CREDIT CARD, LOAN PRODUCET CUSTMER?


lawyers friend (na)     28 August 2008

 


NEWS RELETED TO RECENT CHENNAI HIGH COURT JUGDMENT:

 CHENNAI: Six magistrates, four in Chennai and one each in Coimbatore and Paramakudi, who had entertained complaints which are purely civil in nature from banks and financial institutions, are in trouble.



Justice R Regupathy on Thursday suggested departmental action against the six magistrates while passing further orders on two criminal original petitions.



While passing interim orders earlier, the judge had castigated the judicial magistrates who took cognizance of such complaints and ordered the police to hold investigation, and directed the Vigilance Department to submit statistics of pending cases of credit card transactions, personal loans, hire purchase loans, cheque bounce cases with IPC offences.



And in its report, the department stated that as many as 10,738 such cases were pending before the X Metropolitan Magistrate in Egmore, 10,293 before the III MM in GT, 3,159 before XVII MM in Saidapet and 171 before XVIII MM in Saidapet. The report also stated that 243 cases were pending before the JM-III in Coimbatore and 156 before the JM in Paramakudi.



The judge observed that because of the orders passed mechanically by the magistrates, who colluded with the complainants, the police harassed the borrowers and subjected them to untold misery.



Staying all the proceedings pending before the six magistrates, the judge directed the Registry to transfer all the cases to the High Court.

SINDHU (23)     29 October 2009

WHETHER THIS JUDGEMENT WILL  GIVE RELIEF TO  ALL PERSONAL LOANS  CUSTOMER WHO HAVE ISSUED  POST DATED CHEQUES  AS SECURITY?  WHETHER THIS JUDGEMENT WILL ALSO GIVE RELIEF TO CREDIT CARD DEFAULTERS?


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