Slamming the Tamil Nadu police with its scathing remarks over the events of custodial deaths, the Madras High Court has observed that such incidents display that the police are becoming mad. In its observations on Friday, the state's top judicial body has iterated the need to appoint a retired high judge to lead the state police complaints authority and to address the brutal treatment practised by the police. 

During a hearing on Friday - June 10, the High Court has further said that the police beat until a person is dead, which shows their madness. The bench comprised of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Mala had heard two petitions filed by advocate Saravanan Dakshinamurthy and former IPS officer AG Mourya. In separate petitions, the petitioners have contended that the state and district level police complaints authority must be headed by retired judges and not the home secretary. 

The petitioners had also said they wanted that the Tamil Nadu Police (Reforms) Act, under which the present police complaints authority is formed, must be declared unconstitutional. When the petitions came up for the hearing, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram had submitted that it would not be appropriate for the High Court to hear the issue as it was pending before the Supreme Court. 

The Advocate General further said that the Home Secretary was independent of the police and could hear complaints against higher officials. Lawyer Satish Parasaran, who had represented one of the petitioners, said that as per a news report, in 2018 Tamil Nadu has topped in southern states in custodial deaths and the conviction rate was zero. After hearing the petition, the court has come down hard on the Tamil Nadu police and said that the custodial killings show the madness of the police. 

The bench noted, "They organise gangs in the name of police. They involve land grabbing, rape, and custodial deaths, all such acts should be checked for good governance." By asking whether the state government was afraid of a retired judge, the court said, "If not, why is the government not appointing a former judge as head of the committee."  

The High Court further pointed out that the present authority headed by the home secretary was in violation of the directions proposed by the Supreme Court. The judges said, "This is not against the state, but the police concerned. Therefore, we are expecting the state to take a call without waiting for the court's interference." Following the hearing, the bench posted the matter to June 24.