The Madras High Court has issued a significant directive to the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP), ordering immediate registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) concerning 308 fresh complaints of a massive motor insurance fraud. The new complaints allege a fraud amounting to a staggering ₹75.78 crore in motor accident claims across the state.
Court's Firm Directive on Fresh Complaints
Justice N Anand Venkatesh gave this order after taking on record a memo filed by the petitioners' advocate, N Vijayaraghavan, detailing the new set of 308 complaints. The court explicitly instructed the state police chief to take appropriate steps to register FIRs based on these complaints. Furthermore, the judge mandated that once registered, all these cases must be transferred to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was previously constituted to probe this large-scale fraud.
Background and Scale of the Fraud
The issue came to light through petitions moved by two major insurance companies: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited and The New India Assurance Company Limited. They raised alarms about systematic and widespread fraud in motor accident claims within Tamil Nadu.
This new batch of 308 complaints, involving ₹75.78 crore, is in addition to an earlier set of 467 complaints involving a claim value of ₹105.23 crore. The total alleged fraud now under the scanner exceeds a monumental ₹181 crore.
Status of Previous Complaints and SIT's Role
During the hearing, the DGP filed a status report on the initial 467 complaints. The report revealed that:
- FIRs have been registered in 432 cases.
- 22 complaints are currently under verification.
- 13 complaints fall under the jurisdiction of other states.
Additional Public Prosecutor E Raj Thilak informed the court that out of the 432 registered FIRs, 159 have already been transferred to the SIT. The court emphasized the need for coordination and directed that all 467 complaints, after registration, must be transferred to the SIT within a stipulated timeframe.
The court has adjourned the hearing to February 23, by which time the DGP is required to file a fresh status report detailing the action taken on the new directive concerning the 308 complaints. This ongoing judicial monitoring underscores the seriousness with which the Madras High Court is treating this alleged multi-crore insurance scam.
