Police inquiries without FIRs closed in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, HC told

The police forces of Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh have done away with the practice of conducting inquiries without the registration of first information reports (FIRs), the police chiefs have told the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Affidavits on “closing” such inquiries across the region have also been filed by the Directors-General of Police (DGPs) of the three jurisdictions.

The Bench, during the course of the hearing, was informed that several complaints had been received across various police stations in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, where inquiries had been initiated without the registration of FIRs — contrary to the established legal procedure.

“During the proceedings in all these cases, the affidavits have been filed by the DGPs of Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory of Chandigarh, and this court has been informed that several complaints were received in various police stations of Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, and such inquiries, which were being conducted without the registration of the FIR, have been closed,” the court was told.

The affidavits were filed soon after the High Court made it clear that police officials conducting inquiries and re-inquiries without registering an FIR were liable to pay compensation to both the complainant and the accused. Justice NS Shekhawat had observed that such inquiries were impermissible under the law and amounted to contempt.

The Bench was of the view that such inquiries were being conducted in violation of the law laid by the Supreme Court. It had deprecated the holding of inquiries by the police officers without FIR registration and had laid down guidelines in this regard in the Lalita Kumari case. As such, the inquiry officer’s conduct in such matters was on the verge of contempt.

The Bench was hearing a case where a third inquiry was being conducted on the complainant’s petition over identical allegations related to a plot dispute. Among other things, Justice Shekhawat had noted that the official respondents had acted in violation of the binding precedents laid down by the Supreme Court.

“It has come to this court’s notice that complaints in a number of cases were moved before senior police officers and multiple/repeated inquiries were being conducted in every district of Punjab, including Mohali, by various police officers,” Justice Shekhawat had observed.

The Bench had added: “This court has reasons to believe, after dealing with several similar cases in Mohali district, that multiple inquiries are being conducted by different police officials for the past several months in the district, which is violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India for every accused in such complaint and is also in violation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari’s case.”

Chandigarh