Bhupeshbhai Vinubhai Patel vs State Of Gujarat & 3 on 14 July, 2016

Gujarat high Court

                  R/SCR.A/2165/2016                                              ORDER




                  IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

             SPECIAL CRIMINAL APPLICATION (DIRECTION  TO LODGE 
                         FIR/COMPLAINT) NO. 2165 of 2016
         ========================================================

BHUPESHBHAI VINUBHAI PATEL....Applicant(s) Versus STATE OF GUJARAT  &  3....Respondent(s) ======================================================== Appearance:

MR ZUBIN F BHARDA, ADVOCATE for the Applicant(s) No. 1 MS C. M. SHAH, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1 ======================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MS JUSTICE SONIA GOKANI   Date : 14/07/2016  ORAL ORDER

1. The   petitioner   is   aggrieved   by   nonregistration  of the first information report on the basis of  the   complaint   given   in   writing   by   him   to   the  respondent No.4, herein.

2. It is his say that though cognizable offence is  made   out,   his   first   information   report   is   not  being registered. Both   the   sides   have   been  heard.   This   Court   has  also   taken   into  consideration the judgment of the Apex Court in  the   case   of   "LALITA   KUMARI   V.   STATE  OF   UTTAR   PRADESH AND OTHERS", reported in (2014) 2 SCC 1.  It   would   be   beneficial   to   regurgitate   the  relevant   paragraph   of   the   said   decision,   which  reads as under :

"120. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we hold:

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          R/SCR.A/2165/2016                                            ORDER

(i) Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.

(ii) 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 cognizable offence is disclosed or not.

(iii) If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered. In cases where 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 reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.

(iv) The police officer cannot avoid his duty of registering offence if 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.

(v) 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.

(vi) 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:

(a) Matrimonial disputes/ family disputes;

(b) Commercial offences;

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(c) Medical negligence cases;

(d) Corruption cases;

(e) Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for delay;

The aforesaid are only illustrations and not exhaustive of all conditions which may warrant preliminary inquiry.

(vii) 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.

(viii) Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information received in a police station, we direct that all information relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of 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, as mentioned above."

3. Bearing   in   mind   the   aforementioned   ratio   laid  down   by   the   Apex   Court,   the   respondent   No.4,  herein, shall look into the matter and lodge the  first   information   report,   if   any,   cognizable  offence   is   made   out;   if   not,   for   the   limited  purpose   of  knowing   as   to   whether   cognizable  offence is  revealed, a preliminary inquiry shall  be   conducted.   The   petitioner   shall   be  communicated   the   brief   reasons   if   eventually  also, the respondent No.4 choses not to lodge the  HC-NIC Page 3 of 4 Created On Tue Jul 19 06:26:43 IST 2016 R/SCR.A/2165/2016 ORDER first information report. Such exercise shall be  completed by the respondent No.2 at the earliest,  but not later than ONE WEEK. The entire exercise  shall   be   done   at   the   earliest   without   further  loss of time.

4. The   petition   stands  DISPOSED   OF  accordingly. 

Direct Service is permitted.

(MS SONIA GOKANI, J.)  Tuvar HC-NIC Page 4 of 4 Created On Tue Jul 19 06:26:43 IST 2016