S.Rajaram v. The State Rep By

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 25.02.2022

CORAM:

THE HON'BLE Mr. JUSTICE G.CHANDRASEKHARAN Crl.O.P.No.4535 of 2022 S. Rajaram ... Petitioner Vs The State Rep.by The Inspector of Police, (Crime), Madhavaram Milk Colony Police Station, Avadi City Police.

Crime No.12/2022 ... Respondent Prayer: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C., to direct the respondent and his subordinates not to harass the petitioner.

For Petitioner : Mr. K. Subramanian For Respondent : Mr. E. Raj Thilak Additional Public Prosecutor

O R D E R

This petition is filed seeking direction to the respondent not to harass the petitioner.

2.

It is seen from the submission of the parties that the petitioner is the uncle of one Anandraj. Anandraj said to have borrowed money from 10 different persons to the tune of Rs.5 lakhs. It is claimed that the petitioner had voluntarily offered to settle the matter, false complaint is submitted by the defacto complainant. On the basis of false complaint, the petitioner is unnecessarily harassed.

3.

Learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent submitted that enquiry is pending in C.S.R.No.56/2022 dated 10.02.2022.

4.

It is the grievance of the petitioner that the respondent police have been harassing him under the guise of an enquiry/investigation and hence, he invoked the inherent powers of this Court under Section 482 of Cr.P.C.

5.

An enquiry into a non-cognizable offence or a cognizable offence is the unfettered powers of the Investigation Officers so long as the power to investigate/enquire into these offences are legitimately exercised within the frame work of Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Though the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the Magistrate to be a guardian in all the stages of the police investigation, there is no power envisaging him to interfere with the actual investigation or the mode of investigation. It is in this background that numerous petitions complaining of harassment are being reported and filed before this Court seeking for directions to refrain the police officials from harassing the person named in a complaint. 6.

This Court, exercising its power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code normally would not interfere with the investigation conducted by a police officer. Nevertheless, it would also not turn a blind eye to instances of harassment by the police under the guise of investigation is brought to its notice.

7.

In the present case in hand, the petitioner has 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 petitioner may not be the same to the police officer.

8.

In order to circumvent 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 police are directed to serve summons mentioning the CSR number, date of complaint and the name of the 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.

(f) In the event of any cognizable offences made out, the respondent police shall register a regular case and follow the procedure in accordance with law.

9.

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

Sd/- Assistant Registrar(CS VII) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar AT To

1. The Inspector of Police, (Crime), Madhavaram Milk Colony Police Station, Avadi City Police.

2. The Public Prosecutor, Madras High Court, Madras.

+1cc to Mr. K. Subramanian, Advocate, S.R.No.13291 Crl.O.P.No.4535 of 2022 GPL(CO) CT 15/03/2022