Madras High Court Directs Registration Of 467 FIRs In Insurance Scam, Orders Transfer Of Investigation To SIT

The Court has ordered that these FIRs, based on complaints submitted at various police stations across the State, be transferred to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was constituted in 2021 for this very purpose.

A petition was filed by Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited. The insurance company had initially approached the Court in 2021, raising serious concerns over a network of fabricated motor accident claims involving fake insurance policies and forged documents.

A Bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh directed, “The respondents shall ensure that the 467 complaints which have been given in the respective Police Stations and which has been tabulated, shall be taken on file and FIRs shall be registered and all the FIRs shall be transferred to the SIT. This process shall be completed within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of copy of the order.”

Advocate N.Vjayaraghavan appeared for the Petitioner and Additional Public Prosecutor E.Rajthilak appeared for the Respondents.

During the recent hearing, the Court was informed that investigations have so far revealed 467 individual cases, collectively involving fraudulent claims totaling ₹105.23 crore. The petitioner’s counsel emphasized that this figure was only the tip of the iceberg, and that the scam extended far beyond the cases already identified.

Background

In February 2021, the Court had taken cognizance of the growing number of fake insurance claims being filed across Tamil Nadu and had directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to establish a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT was tasked with probing approximately 120 suspicious claims flagged initially by Cholamandalam Insurance.

At that time, the Court had observed that the scam likely involved a widespread network of individuals and carried serious ramifications for the justice system, insurance sector, and accident compensation mechanisms.

Since then, more insurance companies and cases have come to light, prompting further judicial scrutiny and action.

Finding

The High Court also expressed serious concern over missing documents that were originally filed before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MACTs) in 82 related cases.

In an earlier hearing, the Court had ordered the trial courts concerned to initiate an inquiry and ensure that all original documents submitted along with the claim petitions (MCOPs) were safely preserved and not returned to any parties or advocates.

However, in the latest proceedings, the Court noted that the reports submitted by the courts particularly those by the Principal Sub Judge, Hosur and the Additional District Judge, Hosur were silent on the status of these documents.

The Court has instructed the relevant judicial officers to submit a detailed report on the status of the missing documents and the steps taken to trace them. The Court directed, “If ultimately, the documents are not able to be traced, a criminal complaint has to be lodged since the case property belonging to the Court has gone missing and it has to be enquired and it has to be taken to its logical end. The steps taken/to be taken in this regard shall be informed to this Court.”

The case has been posted for further hearing on October 17, 2025, and all stakeholders including investigating agencies and judicial officers have been asked to file compliance and status reports by then.

Cause Title: Cholamandalam Ms General Insurance Company Ltd v. Director General Of Police & Ors.

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates N.Vjayaraghavan, N.P.Vijay Kumar

Respondents: Additional Public Prosecutor E.Rajthilak, Advocate C.K. Chandrasekaran

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