M. Sathiyaseelan, v. The Commissioner Of Police,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 22.09.2017
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.S.RAMESH Crl.O.P.No.20091 of 2017 M.Sathyaseelan ..
Petitioner Vs.
1. The Commissioner of Police, Commissioner Office, Chennai.
2. The Joint Commissioner of Police, South Chennai, Chennai.
3. The Inspector of Police, Central Crime Branch, Chennai .. Respondents PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. praying to direct the respondents to register the complaint of the petitioner dated 01.07.2013, pending investigation on the file of the 3rd respondant police.
For Petitioner :
Mr.G.Muthukumar For Respondents :
Mr.P.Govindarajan Additional Public Prosecutor.
ORDER
This petition is filed seeking a direction to the respondents to register a case based on the complaint lodged by the petitioner dated 01.07.2013 and investigate the same, according to law. 2.By consent of both sides, this Criminal Original Petition is taken
up for final disposal.
3.The grievance of the petitioner is that inspite of a complaint given by him on 01.07.2013 to Chief Minister Cell, which has been forwarded to the 2nd respondent and inspite of documents submitted to the 3rd respondent, the same has been kept in abeyance without any action. It is well settled in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari Vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others [2013 (6) CTC 353], that registration of an FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure if an information furnished to the police officer disclose commission of a cognizable offence and in cases where the information does not disclose a cognizable offence, a preliminary enquiry has to be conducted.
4. The respondents are not justified in having received the complaint and keeping it unattended without any further action. In view of the same, the petitioner has made out a case for this Court to invoke its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Hence, the 2nd respondent is directed as follows: 1)If the information received by the 3rd respondent discloses commission of a cognizable offence, then, the same shall be forthwith registered.
2)If an information received does not disclose a cognizable offence, the 3rd respondent shall conduct a preliminary inquiry to ascertain whether cognizable offence
is disclosed therein or not and such inquiry shall be completed within a period of seven days from the date of information.
3) If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered, if not already registered or closed.
4) If the preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, the disclosure report must be recorded along with the reasonings and a copy of the same shall be furnished to the complainant within one week. 5)All information relating to cognizable offences whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading an inquiry must be reflected in the general diary/station diary/daily diary of the 3rd respondent's police station. 5.In the result, the Criminal Original Petition is allowed with the above directions.
22.09.2017 ak To
1. The Commissioner of Police, Commissioner Office, Chennai.
2. The Joint Commissioner of Police, South Chennai, Chennai.
3. The Inspector of Police, Central Crime Branch, Chennai 4.The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.
M.S.RAMESH.J, ak Crl.O.P.No.20091 of 2017 22.09.2017