Madras High Court takes special steps to dispose petty criminal cases pending in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava has directed the Madras High Court Registry to list the suo motu writ petitions before Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy in the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai and Justice K.K. Ramakrishnan at its Madurai Bench for passing necessary judicial orders.
The High Court has also decided to identify and dispose of cases booked for the charge of criminal intimidation too even if the offence was punishable for more than three years. The move comes pursuant to identical letters written by Justices Chakravarthy and Ramakrishnan to the Chief justice.
Justice Chakravarthy, on Monday (August 18, 2025), requested the law officers, advocates, police as well as litigants to bring all such cases pending not only before the High Court but also before the district courts, which fall under the jurisdiction of the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai, to his notice beginning from Tuesday.
He said, the High Court would first identify compoundable cases and attempt to resolve them through direct negotiations and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods. Even in non-compoundable cases, the court would suitably consider the possibility of compromise and settlement between the parties.
The High Court would also suggest withdrawal of prosecution in approrpriate cases, if such course was deemed necessary and also quash cases on the ground of delay, wherever circumstances permit, in order to safeguard the right to a speedy trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The court would further attempt to dispose of cases arising out of private complaints, such as those under the Negotiable Instruments Act of 1881, pending before trial courts. Apart from using strategies such as compounding and ADR methods, a special approach would be taken up to dispose of batch cases.
'The goal is to identify categories and recommend or apply appropriate solutions and pass orders to reduce the clogs in the wheels of the administration of criminal justice thereby ensuring proper case flow and availability of quality time for the trial of appropriate cases,' Justice Chakravarthy added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Trump vows to change how elections are run
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Washington, Aug 18 (AP) President Donald Trump on Monday vowed more changes to the way elections are conducted in the U.S., but based on the Constitution there is little to nothing he can do on his own. Relying on false information and conspiracy theories that he's regularly used to explain away his 2020 election loss, Trump pledged on his social media site that he would do away with both mail voting — which remains popular and is used by about one-third of all voters — and voting machines — some form of which are used in almost all of the country's thousands of election jurisdictions. These are the same systems that enabled Trump to win the 2024 election and Republicans to gain control of Congress. Trump's post marks an escalation even in his normally overheated election rhetoric. He issued a wide-ranging executive order earlier this year that, among other changes, would have required documented proof-of-citizenship before registering to vote. His Monday post promised another election executive order to 'help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm elections." The same post also pushed falsehoods about voting. He claimed the U.S. is the only country to use mail voting, when it's actually used by dozens, including Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Similar complaints to Trump's, when aired on conservative networks such as Newsmax and Fox News, have led to multimillion dollar defamation settlements, including one announced Monday, because they are full of false information and the outlets have not been able to present any evidence to support them. The announcement signals yet another way that Trump intends to stack the cards in his favor in the 2026 midterm elections, after he already has directed his attorney general to investigate a Democratic fundraising platform and urged states to redraw their congressional districts to help the GOP maintain its majority in the House of Representatives. Here's a breakdown of Trump's latest election post and why Congress is the one entity that can implement national election rules. Trump's post Trump for years has promoted false information about voting, and Monday was no exception. He claimed there is 'MASSIVE FRAUD" due to mail voting, when in fact voting fraud in the U.S. is rare. As an example, an Associated Press review after the 2020 election found fewer than 475 cases of potential fraud in the six battleground states where he disputed his loss, far too few to tip that election to Trump. Washington and Oregon, which conduct elections entirely by mail, have sued to challenge Trump's earlier executive order — which sought to require that all ballots must be received by Election Day and not just postmarked by then. The states argue that the president has no such authority, and they are seeking a declaration from a federal judge in Seattle that their postmark deadlines do not conflict with federal law setting the date of U.S. elections. Trump also alleged that voting machines are more expensive than 'Watermark Paper." That's a little-used system that has gained favor and investments among some voting conspiracy theorists who believe it would help prevent fraudulent ballots from being introduced into the vote count. Watermarks would not provide a way to count ballots, so they would not on their own replace vote tabulating machines. While some jurisdictions still have voters use electronic ballot-marking devices to cast their votes, the vast majority of voters in the U.S. already vote on paper ballots, creating an auditable record of votes that provides an extra safeguard for election security. In his post, Trump also claimed that states 'are merely an agent' for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes" and must do what the federal government 'as represented by the President of the United States" tells them to do. Election lawyers said that's a misrepresentation of the U.S. Constitution. It also flies in the face of what had been a core Republican Party value of prioritizing states' rights. Thousands of elections, none under presidential control Unlike in most countries, elections in the U.S. are run by the states. But it gets more complicated — each state then allows smaller jurisdictions, such as counties, cities or townships, to run their own elections. Election officials estimate there are as many as 10,000 different election jurisdictions across the country. A frequent complaint of Trump and other election conspiracy theorists is that the U.S. doesn't run its election like France, which hand counts presidential ballots and usually has a national result on election night. But that's because France is only running that single election, and every jurisdiction has the same ballot with no other races. A ballot in the U.S. might contain dozens of races, from president on down to city council and including state and local ballot measures. The Constitution makes the states the entities that determine the 'time, place and manner" of elections, but does allow Congress to 'make" or 'alter" rules for federal elections. Congress can change the way states run congressional and presidential elections but has no say in the way a state runs its own elections. The president is not mentioned at all in the Constitution's list of entities with powers over elections. 'The president has very limited to zero authority over things related to the conduct of elections," said Rick Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Courts have agreed — no presidential involvement Parts of Trump's earlier executive order on elections were swiftly blocked by the courts, on the grounds that Congress, and not the president, sets federal election rules. It's unclear what Trump plans to do now, but the only path to change federal election rules is through Congress. Although Republicans control Congress, it's unclear that even his party would want to eliminate voting machines nationwide, possibly delaying vote tallies in their own races by weeks or months. Even if they did, legislation would likely be unable to pass because Democrats could filibuster it in the U.S. Senate. Mail voting had bipartisan support before Trump turned against it during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election, but it's still widely used in Republican-leaning states, including several he won last November — Arizona, Florida and Utah. It's also how members of the military stationed overseas cast their ballots, and fully eliminating it would disenfranchise those GOP-leaning voters. top videos View all The main significance of Trump's Monday statement is that it signals his continuing obsession with trying to change how elections are run. 'These kinds of claims could provide a kind of excuse for him to try to meddle," Hasen said. 'Very concerned about that." HIG HIG (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 19, 2025, 02:15 IST News agency-feeds Trump vows to change how elections are run Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Loading comments...
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Cong takes out march against ‘poll fraud'
Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Pradesh Congress Committee Monday took out a candlelight march from Bhopal Singh Stadium in Sector 45 here, as part of the party's nationwide movement to expose alleged electoral fraud and "vote chori" reportedly being orchestrated by the BJP in collusion with the Election Commission of India (ECI). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Hundreds of Congress workers carrying party flags, candles, and placards marched through the streets, raising slogans of "Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod!" This sent out a loud and clear message that the people of India will not tolerate the murder of democracy. The march was led by HS Lucky, president of the party's UT unit. Launching a scathing attack on the BJP and the ECI, Lucky said, "Rahul Gandhi's revelations ripped apart the mask of Modi's so-called democracy. The voter list manipulation, deletion of lakhs of names, and fraudulent additions expose the BJP-ECI nexus. Yesterday's press conference by the chief election commissioner showed the naked bias of the commission — the language of a BJP agent, not a constitutional authority. This is nothing short of treason against democracy. If the Election Commission chooses to act as BJP's puppet, then it loses its moral right to exist." He added, "The Election Commission is the guardian of Indian democracy. If it becomes complicit in fraud, then democracy itself collapses. Chandigarh Congress demands full accountability, complete transparency, and the immediate resignation of the Modi govt along with BJP govts in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra that stand tainted by these shocking revelations of vote theft. The Congress party will not rest until every truth is unearthed and those guilty are punished. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now " The protest also welcomed the directions of the Supreme Court, which delivered a stinging setback to the Election Commission in the case of Bihar's voter rolls. The court ordered the publication of provisional draft rolls, restoration of the names of 65 lakh deleted voters, and directed the EC to provide reasons for deletion. It also ruled that Aadhaar cards must be accepted for voter inclusion — a decision hailed by Sandeep Gujjar as "a victory of the people over a compromised Commission. " The Chandigarh Congress asserted that this march is only the beginning of a larger battle to save the Constitution and the soul of Indian democracy. The party vowed to intensify its fight across the country until the electoral system is purged of corruption and restored to its rightful credibility.
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Kamal Haasan Death Threat: TV Actor Moves Madras High Court, Seeks Anticipatory Bail
T. Ravichandran moves Madras High Court for anticipatory bail after allegedly threatening MP Kamal Haasan in a YouTube interview. Television actor T. Ravichandran has approached the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a case reportedly booked by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for allegedly issuing a death threat to MP and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan. Justice G. Jayachandran on Monday (August 18) directed a government advocate to obtain instructions from the CCB and adjourned the hearing to Wednesday (August 20). The petitioner told the court that his remarks during a YouTube interview were 'unintentional" and that he did not intend to threaten the MP. Details of the Threat and Complaint The controversy arose after Haasan, a Rajya Sabha member, attended the 15th anniversary of actor Suriya's Agaram Foundation, which supports students pursuing higher education. During the event, Haasan highlighted the importance of education and described it as a tool to break the 'shackles of Sanatana Dharma." Ravichandran, in a subsequent YouTube interview, objected to Haasan's remarks and warned he would slit the MP's throat if such statements continued. The interview sparked public outrage, leading MNM vice-president and retired IPS officer A.G. Mourya to file a complaint with the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police on August 10. The complaint was forwarded to the CCB, and an FIR was registered. The petitioner told the High Court he was unaware of the FIR number and asserted that he comes from a 'decent family." He expressed willingness to comply with any conditions the court may impose for anticipatory bail. First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Loading comments...
