M.Naveen v. The Commissioner Of Police,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED :13.10.2020
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.PONGIAPPAN CRL.O.P.NO.16274 OF 2020 M.Naveen .. Petitioner Vs.
1. The Commissioner of Police, Office of the Commissioner of Police, Tirupur District.
2. The Inspector of Police, Central Police Station, Tirupur District.
.. Respondents PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. praying to direct the respondents to register the FIR on the complaint dated 05.06.2020 and 13.06.2020 respectively. For Petitioner : Mr.T.Annamalai For Respondents : Mrs.M.Prabhavathi Additional Public Prosecutor
O R D E R
(This case has been heard through video conferencing) This Criminal Original Petition has been filed seeking direction to direct the respondents police to register an FIR based on the petitioner's complaints dated 05.06.2020 and 13.06.2020 and take appropriate action in accordance with law.
2. Heard Mr.T.Annamalai, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mrs.M.Prabhavathi, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents police.
3. Today when this petition is came up for hearing, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents on instructions would submit that so far either the first respondent or the second respondent had not received any complaint dated 05.06.2020 and 13.06.2020 from the petitioner.
4. In this regard, learned counsel for the petitioner would
submit that the petitioner is having the acknowledgement cards for the complaints dated 05.06.2020 and 13.06.2020 served on the respondents and the same were also filed along with the typed set of papers.
5. In the said circumstances, it is necessary to decide whether this petition filed by the petitioner under section 482 Cr.P.C., is entertainable at this stage. In this regard, in the case of G.Prabakaran vs. Superintendent of Police, Thanjavur District and another reported in 2018 (5) CTC 623, the Division Bench of this Court held as follows:
"(i) Section 482 Cr.P.C. cannot be invoked in all circumstances.
(ii) It is not an alternative remedy to Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. but a repository of inherent power. (iii) The normal course of remedy on a failure or refusal to record the information is Section 156
(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure after due compliance of Section 154(3) Cr.P.C.
(iv) A petition can be filed invoking the inherent jurisdiction of this Court only after the completion of 15 days from the date of receipt of the information by the Station House Officer. The Registry shall not receive any petition before the expiry of 15 days aforesaid.
(v) No petition shall be entertained without exhausting the remedy under Section 154(3) Cr.P.C. (vi)An informant can send substance of the information to the Superintendent of Police on knowing the decision of the Station House Officer in not registering the case and proceeding with the preliminary enquiry.
After conducting the preliminary enquiry, the Station House Officer's decision in either registering the compliant or closing it will have to be intimated to the informant immediately and in any case not later than 7 days. Once such a decision is made, the informant cannot invoke Section 482 Cr.P.C. as the remedy lies elsewhere."
6. Further the said view taken by this Court was affirmed by our Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of M.Subramaniam and Others vs. S.Janaki and Others reported in 2020 (5) CTC 464.
7. Therefore, after closing the enquiry by the police officer, the remedy available to the complainant is to file a complaint before the jurisdictional Magistrate under section 156
(3) of Cr.P.C. In otherwise, the petition filed for the relief of direction to direct the respondent police to register the FIR is against the ratio laid down in the above referred judgments.
8. Hence, in view of the above, the prayer sought for by the petitioner is devoid of merits. Accordingly, this Criminal Original Petition is dismissed.
Sd/- Assistant Registrar(CS III) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar nl To
1. Commissioner of Police, Office of the Commissioner of Police, Tirupur District.
2. The Inspector of Police, Central Police Station, Tirupur District.
3. The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.
Crl.O.P.No.16274 of 2020 GJ(CO) CS/10/11/2020