Sudharshan v. The Superintendent Of Police

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 07.02.2023

CORAM

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE G.CHANDRASEKHARAN

1. Sudharshan

2. Shanmugapriya ... Petitioners Vs.

1. The Superintendent of Police, Cuddalore District, Cuddalore.

2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Bhuvanagiri Taluk, Cuddalore.

3. The Inspector of Police, Chidambaram Town Police Station, Cuddalore.

... Respondents PRAYER : This Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., pleased to direct the Respondents not to harass the petitioners in the guise of enquiry pursuant to the representation of the petitioner dated 23.01.2023. For Petitioners : Mr.V.Illanchezian For Respondents : Mr.S.Santhosh Government Advocate(Crl.side) 1/6

O R D E R

This Criminal Original Petition has been filed seeking to direct the respondents not to harass the petitioners.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that under the pretext of enquiry, the respondents police are unnecessarily harassing the petitioners on the basis of the false complaint given by one Ramajayam.

3. Learned Government Advocate (Crl.Side) appearing for the respondents submitted that on receiving the complaint from one Ramajayam with regard to the money dispute and criminal intimidation, enquiry has been conducted in C.S.R.No.947 of 2022 and the petition enquiry is pending on the file of the third respondent Police.

4. Heard the learned Counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Advocate (Crl.Side) for the respondents police. 2/6

5. It is the grievance of the petitioners that the respondents have been harassing them under the guise of an enquiry/investigation and hence, has invoked the inherent powers of this Court under Section 482 of Cr.P.C.

6. In the present case in hand, the petitioners have complained of harassment by the police based on a complaint and seek for this Court's intervention by way of a direction. The term 'harassment' by itself has a very wide meaning and hence, what could be harassment to the petitioners may not be the same to the police officer.

7. In order to meet such situations, the following guidelines are issued: a) While summoning any person named in the complaint or any witness to the incident complained of, the police officer shall summon such person through a written summon under Section 160 Cr.P.C., specifying a particular date and time for appearing before them for such an enquiry/investigation;

b) The respondents are directed to serve summons mentioning the CSR number, date of complaint and the name of the 3/6

complainant;

c) The minutes of the enquiry shall be recorded in the general diary/station diary/daily diary of the police station; d) The police officer shall refrain himself or herself from harassing persons called upon for enquiry/investigation; e) The guidelines stipulated for preliminary enquiry or registration of FIR by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari Vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others [2014 (2) SCC (1)] shall be strictly adhered to.

8. With the above observations and direction, the Criminal Original Petition stands disposed of.

07.02.2023 ham Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non speaking order 4/6

To

1. The Superintendent of Police, Cuddalore District, Cuddalore.

2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Bhuvanagiri Taluk, Cuddalore.

3. The Inspector of Police, Chidambaram Town Police Station, Cuddalore.

4. The Public Prosecutor, High Court of Madras.

5/6

G.CHANDRASEKHARAN,J.

ham 07.02.2023 6/6