division bench comprising Justices K Kalyanasundaram and B Pugalendhi made the suggestion while quashing a detention order passed under the Act against an alleged drug offender, Machakalai, owing to 25 days delay in disposal of his representation by the authorities concerned. The judges noted that there is an inordinate delay in considering the representation of the detainee and in fact, in many such cases, this delay is artificially created by authorities to favour the detainees. “With the advancement in technology several modes of communication are available such as e-mail, fax, WhatsApp., etc, which can be used. A dedicated web-portal has to be established so that every movement of the representation could be monitored and any delay in considering the representation could be avoided,” they added and expressed hope that the government would take necessary action in this regard.

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Exclusive portal to handle representations against detention orders under Goondas Act
The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently observed that the State government should have a dedicated web portal to handle representations received from persons detained under Goondas Act.

Published: 07th July 2021 11:32 AM | Last Updated: 07th July 2021 11:32 AM | A+A A-
Madurai Bench of Madras High Court By Express News Service
ADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently observed that the State government should have a dedicated web portal to handle representations received from persons detained under Goondas Act.

A division bench comprising Justices K Kalyanasundaram and B Pugalendhi made the suggestion while quashing a detention order passed under the Act against an alleged drug offender, Machakalai, owing to 25 days delay in disposal of his representation by the authorities concerned.

The judges noted that there is an inordinate delay in considering the representation of the detainee and in fact, in many such cases, this delay is artificially created by authorities to favour the detainees. “With the advancement in technology several modes of communication are available such as e-mail, fax, WhatsApp., etc, which can be used. A dedicated web-portal has to be established so that every movement of the representation could be monitored and any delay in considering the representation could be avoided,” they added and expressed hope that the government would take necessary action in this regard.

Vetting of final reports

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When the judges had sought reason as to why the detainee was released on a statutory bail despite there being provisions for the prosecution to seek extension of time to file final reports. The prosecution blamed the police for deliberately not filing final report even after completion of investigation. However, the police officials involved contended that they had sent the final reports to the Special Public Prosecutor for vetting and in spite of reminders the prosecutor delayed in approving it, the judges noted, adding that no proof was submitted to the court to support the said claims.

Expressing displeasure over the above incident, the judges recommended the government to fix accountability on government servants concerned, to avoid similar issues in future. They further instructed the Director of Prosecution to come up with a mechanism to give acknowledgements whenever the prosecution receives final reports for vetting, and to ensure that the reports are vetted within a week of receiving them.

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