This order reiterates the Supreme Court's settled law mandating FIR registration under Section 154 Cr.P.C. when information discloses a cognizable offence, dismissing the grievance regarding non-registration.
Petition disposed of; directions of the Supreme Court reiterated; pending miscellaneous petitions closed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE PRAVEEN KUMAR
WRIT PETITION No. 18227 of 2016
ORDER:
The grievance of the petitioner is that the police authorities have not registered a FIR on his complaint dated 06.06.2016.
The scope and import of the statutory obligation of the police to register a FIR upon receiving a complaint is no longer res integra. In
LALITA KUMARI V/s. GOVERNMENT OF UTTAR PRADESH[1] , the Supreme Court, speaking through a Constitution Bench, summarized the law in connection with the registration of crimes as under:
1. The registration of a FIR is mandatory under Section 154 Cr.P.C., if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
2. If the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether a cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
3. If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered. In cases where the preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week. It must disclose the reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
4. A police officer cannot avoid his duty of registering a FIR if a cognizable offence is disclosed. Action must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR if information received by him discloses a cognizable offence.
5. The scope of preliminary inquiry is not to verify the veracity or otherwise of the information received but only to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable offence.
6. As to what type and in which cases preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will depend on the facts and circumstances
of each case. The category of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under:
7. While ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a preliminary inquiry should be made time-bound and in any case it should not exceed 7 days. The fact of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in the general diary entry.
8. Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information received in a police station, all information relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of a FIR or leading to an inquiry, must be mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the said Diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry must also be reflected therein.
In the light of the aforestated settled legal position, it is not open to the police authorities to deviate therefrom or show any tardiness in taking appropriate necessary action after receiving a complaint alleging a cognizable criminal offence. In the event the offence alleged is a non-cognizable one, the police authorities are bound to follow the due procedure laid down in Section 155 Cr.P.C. In any event, the police
authorities must take suitable action in the matter expeditiously, if the report is received. If any crime is registered for an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term of seven years or less, the investigating agency shall scrupulously follow the conditions stipulated in the judgment of the Apex Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar and anothe r[2] .
The writ petition is accordingly disposed of reiterating the
aforestated directions of the Supreme Court. Pending miscellaneous petitions shall stand closed in the light of this final order. No order as to costs.
_____________________ JUSTICE PRAVEEN KUMAR
09.06.2016 gkv
[1] (2014) 2 SCC 1 [2] 2014 (2) ALT (Crl.) 457 SC
3 issues framed by the court
Whether police are statutorily obligated to register an FIR upon receiving information disclosing a cognizable offence under Section 154 Cr.P.C.
Whether preliminary inquiry is permissible before registering an FIR in cases disclosing a cognizable offence.
Whether the police must supply reasons for closing a complaint and adhere to specific timelines as mandated by Supreme Court precedent.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P.Relied on¶6
LALITA KUMARI V/s. GOVERNMENT OF UTTAR PRADESH [( ) 2 SCC 1]
Arnesh Kumar v. State of BiharRelied on¶22
2014 (2) ALT (Crl.) 457 SC
2 provisions across 1 enactments
Unnamed Petitioner
Unnamed Respondent
PRAVEEN KUMAR
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
