In a significant judgment expanding the rights of victims in property related crimes, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Government to compensate victims whose stolen gold was never recovered and whose cases were labelled undetected after years of weak investigation. The court ordered that 30 percent of the value of the unrecovered gold must be paid to the victims.
Justice B Pugalendhi said the compensation is not an act of goodwill but a public law remedy arising from the state’s failure to protect citizens and their property. He said that when the state takes full control of criminal investigation, it also accepts responsibility for its lapses. The court said that prolonged failure to identify offenders in these cases violated Article 21, as the right to life includes dignity, security and protection of property. It added that the compensation may be recovered from victims later if the stolen gold is traced.
Along with the compensation order, the court issued a series of directions aimed at improving accountability in the police system. The Director General of Police must ensure that complainants are informed before a case is marked undetected and must emphasise that such reports are temporary and do not close the investigation. Police units have been told to continuously review these cases through weekly Crime and Occurrence sheets and the Register of Undetected Cases. The State Crime Records Bureau has been asked to conduct quarterly reviews to identify trends and issue advisories.
The judgment also directs the deployment of experienced officers to re examine long pending cases. The state has been encouraged to form district level Special Investigation Teams with skilled officers, improved infrastructure and better authority. These teams will reopen cases undetected for more than five years, and officers who solve them may be considered for rewards. The court said this specialised effort is necessary because of widespread gaps seen across districts.
The ruling highlights the need for better police training. The DGP for Training has been instructed to design refresher programmes on forensic tools, evidence handling, crime scene management and effective communication with victims. The court said these improvements are essential because common lapses were found across several cases.
The judgment came from petitions filed by victims in Sivagangai, Madurai, Karur, Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai. In each case, homes were burglarised when families were away for functions or travel. Gold ranging from 17 to 87 sovereigns and cash were stolen. The court found repeated failures such as unexamined CCTV footage, suspects not arrested despite being traced to other states, witnesses not questioned and delayed forensic work. Many complainants waited between four and ten years without updates. Justice Pugalendhi called this pattern institutional neglect and said justice requires sustained investigation, transparency with victims and compensation when the system fails.
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