IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 22.01.2018
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.S.RAMESH
Crl.O.P.No.1645 of 2018
C.Kala … Petitioner
Vs.
1.The Commissioner of Police,
Officer of the Commissioner of Police,
Chennai.
2.The Inspector of Police,
All Women Police Station,
Chennai 600 012.
3.P.Chandrababu
4.Malathi … Respondents
PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. praying to direct the respondents 1 and 2 to file FIR against the respondents 3 and 4 in pursuant to the complaint dated 08.09.2017 of the petitioner against the respondents 3 and 4 on the ground of bigamy is punishable under Section 498A, 194 and 506(i) of Indian Penal Code.
For Petitioner : Mr.G.Mohanarangan
For Respondent : Ms.Kritika Kamal.P
Government Advocate (Crl. Side)
ORDER
This petition is filed seeking a direction to the 1st and 2nd respondents police to register a case on the basis of the petitioner’s complaint dated 08.09.2017.
2.By consent of both sides, this Criminal Original Petition is taken up for final disposal.
3.The grievance of the petitioner is that inspite of a complaint given by her on 08.09.2017 to the respondents 1 and 2 , the same has been kept in abeyance without any action. It is well settled in the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari Vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others [2013 (6) CTC 353], that registration of an FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure if an information furnished to the police officer disclose commission of a cognizable offence and in cases where the information does not disclose a cognizable offence, a preliminary enquiry has to be conducted.
4. The 1st and 2nd respondents are not justified in having received the complaint and keeping it unattended without any further action. In view of the same, the petitioner has made out a case for this Court to invoke its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
5.Hence, the petitioner is directed to give a copy of the complaint dated 08.09.2017 to the Station House Officer having territorial jurisdiction over the issue. On receipt of the said copy of the complaint, the concerned Station House Officer shall adhere to the following directions.
1)If the information received by the 2nd respondent discloses commission of a cognizable offence, then, the same shall be forthwith registered.
2)If an information received does not disclose a cognizable offence, the 2nd respondent shall conduct a preliminary inquiry to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed therein or not and such inquiry shall be completed within a period of fifteen days from the date of information.
3) If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered, if not already registered or closed.
4) If the preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, the closure report must be recorded along with the reasonings and a copy of the same shall be furnished to the complainant within one week.
5)All information relating to cognizable offences whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading an inquiry must be reflected in the general diary/station diary/daily diary of the 2nd respondent’s police station.
6. In the result, the Criminal Original Petition is allowed with the above directions.
22.01.2018
Index:Yes/No
Internet: Yes/No
ak/sai
To
1.The Commissioner of Police,
Officer of the Commissioner of Police,
Chennai.
2.The Inspector of Police,
All Women Police Station,
Chennai 600 012.
3.The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.
M.S.RAMESH.J.,
ak/sai
Crl.O.P.No.1645 of 2018
22.01.2018