Justice B. Pugalendhi said the court had noticed that investigating officers were spending much of their time making court appearances on applications filed by the accused.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Home Secretary to ensure that videoconference facility is provided to law officers, at least in the High Courts and the district courts, so that investigating officers need not wait in the court all day to provide details of the case.

Justice B. Pugalendhi said the court had noticed that investigating officers were spending much of their time making court appearances on applications filed by the accused. The Public Prosecutors should refrain from calling the investigating officers for each and every hearing. They could collect written instructions on the point of issue, and verify the same through videoconference, the judge said.

The court directed that a circular be issued limiting the scenarios under which law officers have to summon the investigating officers to the court.

The court was hearing petitions pertaining to the cheating cases involving Udhayam Chits and its sister concerns, and PG Marketing and Agro Tech Company and its sister concerns.

The companies were said to have collected deposits from a large number of people to fund their operations. They had offered to return the matured amount with huge interest, but ended up cheating their customers. Hence, cases were registered against them.

The Economic Offences Wing, Dindigul, was investigating the case involving Udhayam Chits, and the Economic Offences Wing, Madurai, was probing the case involving PG Marketing and Agro Tech Company. A chargesheet was filed, and the trial was under way.

The court said the agency did not have enough manpower for the volume of work involved, and it appeared that the agency had not been provided with vehicles. It was also facing difficulties in collecting records. The government was expected to address the difficulties faced by the agency, the court added.

At the same time, the investigating officer should understand that there was no need to refer all the depositors as witnesses and examine them as witnesses during the trial. The prosecution could rely on a few witnesses and, in the event of those witnesses turning hostile, necessary applications may be filed to produce the other witnesses, the court said.

It directed the agency to conclude the investigation as expeditiously as possible, and ensure that the trial attained its logical conclusion.