Tamil Nadu Police has no crystal ball or magic wand to solve cases in no time: Madras High Court
A view of the Madras High Court in Chennai. File | Photo credit: K. Picumani
The Tamil Nadu police does not have a crystal ball or a magic wand to expect investigators to solve even sensitive cases like the child sexual abuse case registered against R. Veeramani of Gem Granites within four days of setting up a special investigation team (SIT), the Madras High Court wrote on Wednesday (30 Sep 2026).
Justice V. Lakshminarayanan made this observation in a preliminary order issued in a court petition filed by R. Varaaki seeking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate a case booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012. The petitioner opined that the state police may not be investigating the case properly.
When the judge wanted to know the reason for such arrest, the petitioner’s counsel replied that the Tamil Nadu government had recently placed two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers on mandatory waiting list following complaints against them that they had tried to cover up a crime during the previous regime. The judge immediately replied, “Then that means the government is taking action.”
He went to tell the lawyer, “It is a very sensitive matter. You do not realize that this is not an area where politics should be played. I am more concerned with the children. You are not serious about what happened. There are other cases where you can get publicity. Please do not interfere in this case. The victims in this case are many children belonging to Scheduled Castes.”
However, the petitioner’s counsel replied that the cause for concern was the suspected involvement of some senior IPS officers in concealing the crime in the past. Justice Lakshminarayanan said that the SIT would necessarily have to investigate this angle as well and that the petitioner or any other person having information regarding the case could share it with the team.
To the counsel’s insistence that the case must be investigated by an independent agency as it involves allegations of cover-up by serving IPS officers, the judge said, “So let’s hand it over to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). They are completely independent. They have nothing to do with India at all. The CBI also has IPS officers, where do they come from?”
Later, the judge directed public prosecutor R. John Sathyan, assisted by additional public prosecutor Arun Anbumani, to ensure confidentiality with respect to all those sharing information with the SIT in connection with the POCSO case and to submit a report to the court on the investigation conducted so far by October 7, 2026.
He recorded the petitioner’s submission that he too would appear before the SIT on Thursday (October 1, 2026) and share with it all available information regarding the case.
Published – 30 Sep 2026 17:20 IST