Madras High Court Directs State To Operationalize Court Case Monitoring System

The Madras High Court asked the Home Secretary, State of Tamil Nadu to take necessary steps to operationalise the Court Case Monitoring System (CCMS) at all levels. CCMS is a digital platform introduced by the State to monitor and coordinate the handling of all categories of Court cases involving the Government, including civil, criminal, writ, and public interest matters.

The Bench of Justice B. Pugalendhi observed, “Therefore, the fourth respondent / Home Secretary shall take necessary steps to operationalise the CCMS platform at all levels. Access shall be extended to all the Officers of the Government, so that real-time case data can be accessed without the need for physical appearance or oral instruction. Such a step would not only ensure administrative efficiency, but also preserve the time and resources of the government machinery.”

Advocate S.Malaikani represented the Petitioner, while Advocates P.Kottaichamy and T.Senthil Kumar represented the Respondents.

Case Brief

A Finance Company lodged a complaint to Police alleging that it had been cheated by an accused who pledged spurious gold to the extent of 418.4 grams, resulting in a loss of Rs.16,80,900/-. Thus, an application was filed seeking a direction to the Inspector of Police to conclude the investigation and file the final report within a stipulated time.

The Police submitted that the defacto complainant had not co-operated with the investigation and failed to produce the requisite documents, thereby stalling the investigation.

Court’s Observation

With regard to the contention of non-cooperation of the Finance Company, the Court made a query regarding the documents required from the Finance Company, however, the Officer who had come to assist the learned Government Advocate was unable to respond.

“From the records, it is apparent that there were, in fact, no outstanding documents required from the defacto complainant, contrary to the representation made on 25.07.2025…Therefore, it is clear that a false representation was made before this Court on that day”, the Court noted.

The High Court opined that the State’s representations, particularly those advanced by the Government Advocate, carry weight and were presumed to be based on verified instructions. However, the said instructions given were inaccurate and misleading.

The Madras High Court questioned the manner in which the system functions. “If accurate and authentic information is not furnished by responsible officials, it becomes extremely difficult for Courts to arrive at proper conclusions. Had the Investigation Officer provided instructions directly to the learned Government Advocate this miscommunication could have been avoided, and the two Special Sub Inspectors would not have been made scapegoats for the lapses of the Investigation Officer”, the Court said.

The High Court suggested the use of digital ecosystem, comprising scanners, emails, and instant messaging platforms for seamless, prompt and authenticated communication.

The Court said, “The sad reality is, even now, Police Officers are made to wait in the Court premises for the entire day merely to provide oral instructions, often without prior preparation. This results in a complete and unnecessary drain of their productive time, which could otherwise be utilised in progressing pending investigations.”

The Court was also of the opinion that the instructions that were required to be given were minimal — the stage of investigation; number of witnesses examined; documents recovered; and likely time for conclusion. Despite that, two officers were deputed, who, without verifying the CD file, gave vague oral instructions, resulting in a detailed order from this Court and subsequent initiation of disciplinary proceedings.

Consequently, the Court impleaded Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, and the Secretary to Government, Home Department, as party respondents in the case in order to take appropriate policy decisions on the said issues.

The Court suggested that to ensure effective and targeted access, the High Court Registry while feeding the case details into CCMS, assign a unique Department Code or Identifier corresponding to the name of the Government Department, sub-department, or office involved in the litigation. “ By doing so, when an officer logs into CCMS using their designated credentials, only those cases filed against or concerning their department or designation will be visible, thereby streamlining accountability and reducing administrative delays”, the Court added.

Accordingly, the matter was adjourned.

Cause Title: Kosamattam Finance Company V. The State of Tamil Nadu (Neutral Citation: 2025:MHC:1892)

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