THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Police Chief Loknath Behera has issued an order directing officers to conduct preliminary investigations before registering FIRs in “unbelievable” cases. The order issued last week said officers should scrutinise complaints received, and in case they fall in the “unusual, unbelievable, inhuman or wild” category, preliminary inquiries should be carried out before registering FIRs.
The order came in the wake of a High Court directive to the State Police Chief that cases should not be instantly registered on complaints containing wild allegations. Instead a preliminary inquiry should be conducted in the first place, the court had directed while granting bail to a woman who was in custody for alleged sexual abuse of her minor son.
According to the order, the Station House Officer should apprise officers of or above the rank of DySP if they come across such complaints. The preliminary inquiry can be initiated after obtaining the nod of the District Police Chief and should be completed within 30 days of the registration of the inquiry. The FIR can be drawn up only after ascertaining that a cognizable offense has been committed as alleged by the complainant, the order said.
However, the move has triggered apprehension that the order could be misused and would legitimise inaction from the police’s side in case of complaints against influential people.Also, there is no yardstick to judge whether the allegations levelled were unusual or wild in nature. Retired High Court judge B Kemal Pasha said not registering case up to 30 days after receiving the complaint is a per incurium (through lack of care) of statute.
He said the Supreme Court had made it clear that case should be registered on complaints pertaining to cognizable offences. “The Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) says, in complaints of cognizable offense, cases should be registered. There is no provision in the CrPC which mandates preliminary inquiry before registering case in complaints pertaining to cognizable offense,” he said.
Meanwhile, the State Police Chief said the decision was issued on the basis of the High Court order and that measures have been taken to prevent its misuse.“The order was issued in compliance with the recent order of the High Court as well as the Supreme Court verdict in the Lalita Kumari case,” Behera said.