Bijoy Kumar Swain vs Superintendent of Police, and Another

A.S. Naidu, J.—Being aggrieved by the inaction of Police in not registering a case on the First Information Report filed by the Petitioner against Opp. parties 3 to 6 and initiating action against them, the Petitioner has come up with the present case seeking issuance of appropriate direction by this Court in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction u/s 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Bereft of unnecessary details, the short facts as alleged by the Petitioner are that on 25.2.2003, the Petitioner filed an FIR before the Officer-in-Charge, Raghunathpur Police Station, Opp. Party No. 2 alleging commission of certain cognizable offences by Opp. parties 3 to 6. According to the Petitioner in spite of receipt of the FIR, the O.I.C., Opp. Party No. 2 maintained stony silence and did not take any action whatsoever, thereby creating a cloud of suspicion in the mind of the Petitioner. The Petitioner apprehends that as he belongs to a lower strata of the society and Opp. Parties 3 to 6 are influential persons, the O.I.C., Opp. party No. 2 is exhibiting a cold shoulder to the Petitioner end is refraining from initiating any investigation. It is further averred that the Petitioner reported about such inaction of Opp. Party No. 2 to the Superintendent of Police, Jagatsinghpur, Opp. Party No. 1 and also forwarded a copy of the FIR by Registered Post. The Postal receipt revealing communication to Opp. party No. 1 is also produced in Court in course of hearing. It is alleged that though more than 15 days have passed in the meantime, no action has been taken either by Opp. Party No. 1 or by Opp. Party No. 2 and the Petitioner had no other way out but to approach the portals of this Court.

An information lodged under Sub-Section 154 of Code of Criminal Procedure is commonly nomenclatured as First Information Report (FIR). Though the term is not used in Court as the name suggests, it is the earliest and the first information of a cognizable offence given to the Police. It sets the criminal law in motion beginning with commencement of the investigation, which ends with the formation of opinion under Sections 169 and 170 of Code of Criminal Procedure, as the case may be, and forwarding of a Police report u/s 173 of Code of Criminal Procedure.

In consonance with the provisions enshrined in the Code of Criminal Procedure, an Officer-in-Charge of a Police Station has to commence investigation as stipulated in Section 156 or 157 of Code of Criminal Procedure on the basis of entry of the First Information Report, on coming to know of the commission of a cognizable offence.

The right of the Police to investigate into a cognizable offence is a statutory right, over which the Court does not possess any supervisory jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal Procedure. In the decision, AIR 1945 18 (Privy Council) , the Privy Council spelt out the power of investigation of the Police as follows:

In India as has been shown there is a statutory right on the part of the Police to investigate the circumstances of an alleged cognizable crime without requiring any authority from the judicial authorities, and it would, as their Lordships think, be an unfortunate result if it should be held possible to interfere with those statutory rights by an exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court.

In the case at hand, though an FIR has been lodged bringing to the notice of the local Police that a cognizable offence had been committed by Opp. parties Nos. 3 to 6, for the reasons best known, it is alleged that the Police is not taking any action as mandatorily required of it under the provision of Code of Criminal Procedure. In such contingency, as has been held by the Supreme Court in the case of T.T. Antony Vs. State of Kerala and Others, , the High Court in exercise of its inherent power u/s 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure or power vested upon it under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution can issue necessary direction to the Police to prevent abuse of the process of law or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.

In view of the discussions made in the preceding paragraph and in the light of the allegations levelled, I direct Opp. Parties Nos. 1 and 2 to immediately accept the FIR said to have been filed by the Petitioner in Raghunathpur Police Station on 25.2.2003. For the sake of convenience, I also direct the Petitioner to approach Opp. Party No. 2 once again and if necessary submit a copy of the FIR and comply with the other requirements within three weeks from today. I also direct Opp. parties 1 and 2 to proceed with the investigation as stipulated under the Code of Criminal Procedure and submit final report or charge-sheet as may be deemed just and proper.

This Criminal Miscellaneous case is accordingly disposed of. A copy of the order be handed over to the learned Counsel for the State for issuing necessary instructions to Opp. Parties Nos. 1 and 2.

Crl. Misc. Case disposed of.