Mary Rani, F/Aged 48 Years v. State Rep. By

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 13.10.2017

CORAM:

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.S.RAMESH Crl.O.P.No.21940 of 2017 Mary Rani ..

Petitioner/complainant Vs.

State Rep.by The Inspector of Police, T4, Maduravoyal Police Station, Chennai.

.. Respondent PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. praying to direct the respondent to register a case based on the complaint lodged by the petitioner dated 14.09.2017 in C.S.R.No.995 of 2017 and investigate the same according to law.

For Petitioner :

Mr.L.Infant Dinesh For Respondent :

Mr.P.Govindarajan Additional Public Prosecutor.

O R D E R

This petition is filed seeking a direction to the respondent to register a case based on the complaint lodged by the petitioner dated 14.09.2017 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 her on 14.09.2017 to The Commissioner of Police, Chennai, 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 respondent is 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 respondent is directed as follows:

1)If the information received by the 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 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 fifteen 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 respondent's police station.

5.In the result, the Criminal Original Petition is allowed with the above directions.

Sd/- Deputy Registrar //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar AT

To

1. The Inspector of Police, T4, Maduravoyal Police Station, Chennai.

2. The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.

Crl.O.P.No.21940 of 2017 nrjk(co) aa07/11/2017