Rajamani, v. The Sub - Inspector Of Police,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 22.10.2019
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.S.RAMESH W.P.No.30050 of 2019 and W.M.P.No.29977 of 2019 Rajamani
...Petitioner
Vs.
1. The Sub-Inspector of Police, Puduchatram Police Station, Puduchatram, Bhuvanagiri Taluk, Cuddalore District.
2. The Inspector of Police, Puduchatram Police Station, Puduchatram, Bhuvanagiri Taluk, Cuddalore District.
3. Mayavan
4. Latha
5. L.Pakkiri
6. L.Karunamurthy
...Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing respondents 1 and 2 not to harass/intimidating the petitioner in respect of the properties which are subject matter of civil disputes in O.S.No.279 of 2019 on the file of the Sub-Court, Cuddalore.
For Petitioner : Mr.D.Baskar For Respondents: Mr.C.Iyyapparaj Additional Public Prosecutor for R1 & R2
O R D E R
It is the grievance of the petitioner that the respondent police have been harassing/intimidating her in respect of the properties, which are subject matter of civil disputes in O.S.No.279 of 2019, under the guise of an enquiry/investigation
2. 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 persons named in a complaint.
3. This Court, exercising its power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 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 brought to its notice.
4. It is seen that in some cases, the investigation pending before the Police has been stayed by Court orders. It is needless to point out that in cases of this nature, the respondent Police will not be entitled to even proceed with the investigation and therefore, the petitioner may not have an apprehension of harassment in the hands of the Police.
5. In the present case in hand, the petitioner has complained of harassment by the police based on a complaint and seeks 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.
6. In order to circumvent such situations, the following guidelines are issued:
a)While summoning any persons named in the complaint or any witness to the incident complained of, the police officer shall summon such persons 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 minutes of the enquiry shall be recorded in the general diary/station diary/daily diary of the police station. c)The police officer shall refrain himself or herself from harassing persons called upon for enquiry/investigation. d)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.
7. With the above observations and directions, the Writ Petition stands ordered. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
Sd/- Assistant Registrar (CCC) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar hvk To
1. The Sub-Inspector of Police, Puduchatram Police Station, Puduchatram, Bhuvanagiri Taluk, Cuddalore District.
2. The Inspector of Police, Puduchatram Police Station, Puduchatram, Bhuvanagiri Taluk, Cuddalore District.
3. The Public Prosecutor, High Court of Madras.
W.P.No.30050 of 2019 and W.M.P.No.29977 of 2019 PPA(CO) GN(04/12/2019)