Madras High Court Refuses To Accept DGP's Report On Orderly System Being Completely Abolished In State, Asks State For Explanation
Upasana Sajeev
20 Dec 2025 11:30 AM IST
The Madras High Court, on Friday, refused to accept a report submitted by the Director General of Police informing the court that the orderly system was completely abolished in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice C Kumarappan refused to accept the report in light of recent news reports, which suggested that the uniformed personnel continued to be made to work as orderlies. The court thus suo moto the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary of the State and sought an explanation from them. The court also directed the Advocate General to assist the bench and adjourned the case to January 7.
It may be noted that in August 2022, Justice Subramaniam had ordered a complete abolition of the orderly system in the State. The court had directed the authorities to remove the orderlies appointed in the residence of retired officials and added that if any complaint was received, it would take disciplinary action.
The court had also directed the Home Ministry to take strict action against higher officials whenever an incident of practising the orderly system was reported. It also directed that apart from taking departmental action, the salary payable to officials engaged as an orderly must be recovered from the errant higher official. However, even in 2024, while dealing with another case, the court had remarked that despite several court orders, the practice continued to exist.
In the present case, the court was taking up a petition filed by Advocate A Radhakrishnan, seeking police protection based on his representation.
When the case came up before the bench, the court questioned whether its earlier order on abolishing the orderly system had been complied with. The State Public Prosecutor replied in the affirmative and also submitted a circular issued by the DGP to all police officials to forthwith stop the practice of orderly system in the residences of police officials, including retired officials and other personnel.
The court, however, said it could not accept the report in light of the news articles on the continued practice of the orderly system.
The court also suggested that a real-time tracking system could be introduced in the DGP's office for effective monitoring of all the officials on other duties.
Case Title: A Radhakrishnan v The Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Others
Case No: WP Crl. No. 472 of 2025