MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has cautioned Tamil Nadu police against issuing summons during preliminary inquiry, stating it may lead to holding of kangaroo courts.
Justice B Pugalendhi made the observation recently while hearing a petition filed by R Somasundaram who sought a direction for preliminary inquiry into his complaint that a person with whom he had mortgaged his property refused to return the documents despite repayment of money.
During the course of the hearing, the judge expressed concern about the scope of 'preliminary inquiry' and the procedure followed by police in this regard.
Responding to his query, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, High Court Cases Monitoring Cell, explained that whenever a preliminary inquiry is proposed under Section 173(3) BNSS, a CSR would be issued recording that the petition is under inquiry.
Summons or notice, if at all issued, must be traceable only to Section 173(3) BNSS (which allows police to conduct a preliminary inquiry for certain offenses before registering FIR) and not to Sections 179 (which grants police the power to summon witnesses for questioning) or 35(3) (law that governs police notices for individuals suspected of a cognizable offense) BNSS, he added.
Recording this, the judge noted that as per the aforesaid provisions, summoning of witnesses can be done by the police officer only during the process of investigation, which begins only after registration of FIR. "Therefore, the practice of summoning parties during the preliminary enquiry stage cannot be sustained in law," he added.
Further citing the conditions mentioned in Section 173 (3) BNSS, the judge said a preliminary inquiry should be conducted after approval from a DSP, by perusing the complaint and supporting materials and completed within 14 days and the result should be communicated to the complainant. If a cognizable offence is disclosed, the police should register an FIR forthwith and proceed with the investigation, he added and disposed of the petition.