Summary of this article
Madras High Court orders registration of 308 FIRs in alleged motor insurance fraud.
Claims worth Rs 75.78 crore flagged for false accidents and fabricated documents.
Court says cognisable offences cannot stay at preliminary verification stage.
All FIRs to be probed by SIT; next status review fixed for February 23, 2026.
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu police to register 308 fresh FIRs in connection with alleged motor insurance fraud, according to a recent report by the Times of India. The direction was issued to the Director General of Police (DGP) while the court was hearing a batch of complaints filed by insurance companies alleging large-scale false motor accident claims.
The court said the complaints could not remain pending at the stage of preliminary verification and had to be taken forward under criminal law. It made it clear that once allegations disclose a cognisable offence, FIRs must be registered.
Pending Complaints Taken Up By Court
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh heard the matter. During the hearing, the High Court took up complaints filed earlier by Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company and New India Assurance Company. The insurers told the court that a number of motor accident claims were backed by false documents and overstated accident narratives, leading to payouts that should not have been made.
The latest 308 complaints relate to claims of around Rs 75.78 crore. These are separate from an earlier set of 467 complaints involving claims of more than Rs 105 crore.
1 December 2025
Get the latest issue of Outlook Money
The police informed the court that FIRs had been registered in 432 of the earlier 467 complaints. Twenty-two complaints were still being verified, while 13 cases were found to fall outside Tamil Nadu. Of the FIRs registered so far, 159 cases had been transferred to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the matter.
The court was not satisfied with the progress. It said keeping a large number of complaints pending without registration defeated earlier directions issued by the court.
SIT To Investigate All FIRs
The High Court has now directed that all newly registered FIRs, including those arising from the latest 308 complaints, be transferred to the SIT. The SIT will investigate whether there is a common pattern behind the claims and examine the role of those involved in filing and processing them.
The court said allegations involving such large sums could not be treated as routine disputes between insurers and claimants. It added that delays in the investigation affected the larger system and genuine policyholders.
The DGP has been asked to ensure coordination between district police units and the SIT so that FIRs are transferred without delay. The court has fixed February 23, 2026, as the date for the next review. By then, the police have been asked to report on the registration and transfer of all pending FIRs.
Insurers have argued that fraudulent claims increase costs and lead to stricter scrutiny for genuine cases. The court’s directions are expected to determine how the investigation proceeds in the coming months.
