Chennai: A serving police inspector from Cuddalore district wrote in a complaint email to the registrar general of Madras high court that the “orderly system”—the practice of deploying uniformed personnel as personal attendants to senior officers—continued illegally even after the high court banned it in 2022. The inspector said that despite the state govt issuing an order to constitute district-level committees headed by collectors to eradicate the system, and an interim DGP directive to relieve policemen being used as orderlies, the practice has persisted unabated.P Jayasankar, inspector of police at the Sethiyathope police station in Cuddalore district, submitted the complaint on Jan 2, claiming that the director general of police filed a false certification before the high court on Dec 19, 2025, stating that no police personnel were serving as orderlies in the Tamil Nadu police department.
In his complaint, Jayasankar cited a 2022 Madras high court order, which directed the abolition of the orderly system. He said that despite the order, senior officers continued to deploy constables for personal work, including cooking, gardening, driving family members in govt vehicles, cleaning, and childcare at their residences and farmhouses.Jayasankar, who served in the Tamil Nadu police department since April 1999, cited a specific incident to support his complaint. He stated that a police constable, Tamilkudimagan, was on orderly duty as a driver to a then SP in Ooty, and went to drop the officer’s wife at Coimbatore airport on July 8, 2024, using a govt vehicle. The constable met with an accident on the Ooty-Mettupalayam road that killed him and another rider. The inspector further stated that police head constable K Ashok, posted to Sethiyathope police station on Nov 30, 2024, did not report for duty there and instead worked as an orderly to a DGP without any official order. Jayasankar said the constable’s duty roster said he was on “other duty at DGP”.Jayasankar claimed that senior officers used disciplinary action as a threat to prevent subordinates from filing complaints. He said he earlier filed corruption complaints against senior officers to the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption and the DGP, but received no response. Meanwhile, TOI could not reach inspector Jayasankar. Although his two phones, including the govt-issued one, rang, he did not respond. DGP (law and order) K Venkatraman was also unavailable.
