Patna High Court - Orders
Rita Devi vs The State Of Bihar, Through Principal ... on 14 September, 2022
Author: Rajeev Ranjan Prasad
Bench: Rajeev Ranjan Prasad
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.947 of 2018
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-145 Year-2017 Thana- NARHATT District- Nawada
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Rita Devi, W/o Vinod Singh @ Vinod Kumar, R/o Village- Jhikarua, P.S.-
Narhat, District- Nawada.
... ... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Bihar, through Principal Secretary, Department Of Home (Po-
lice) , Government Of Bihar, Patna.
2. The Director Beneral of Police, Bihar, Patna.
3. The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Magadh Division, Gaya.
4. The Superintendent of Police, Nawada.
5. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rajauli, District- Nawada.
6. The S.H.O. Narhat P.S., District- Nawadah.
... ... Respondents
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Arun Kumar, Advocate.
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Deepak Kumar- AC to GP-4.
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJEEV RANJAN PRASAD
ORAL ORDER
2 14-09-2022Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the State.
The petitioner in the present case is looking for a di-
rection to the respondent authorities to conduct proper investiga-
tion of Narhat P.S. Case No. 145 of 2017 dated 05.09.2017 reg-
istered under Sections 376(D)/305 of the Indian Penal Code and 4/14/17 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
This Court has, while disposing of the batch of the writ applications the lead case being Cr.WJC No. 153 of 2017 issued following directions:-
Patna High Court CR. WJC No.947 of 2018(2) dt.14-09-2022 2/6 "(I) In the cases where the investigation of the case is still pending, the concerned writ petitioner/an aggrieved person (hereinafter referred to as the 'writ petitioner' or 'an aggrieved person') may file an appropriate application before the Se-
nior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Po- lice of the concerned district drawing his attention towards the pending investigation. The aggrieved person shall submit his stand by way of an applica- tion with all supporting materials in the office of Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police or send the same through registered post/speed post/email, as the case may be. A copy of the same shall also be sent to the investigating officer of the case.
(II) On receipt of such application from the aggrieved person, the Senior Superintendent of Po- lice/ Superintendent of Police shall himself super- vise the said case within a period of two weeks, wherever necessary he shall give a chance of hear- ing to the aggrieved person and all endeavours be made to consider the submissions as well as the materials produced before him.
(III) The Senior Superintendent of Police/ Su- perintendent of Police shall issue necessary instruc- tions to any other supervising authority such as Dy.S.P. and also to the I.Os. of the case to complete the investigation from all angles within a reason- able period. What will be the reasonable period will depend upon the nature of the case and the kind of materials which are required to be dealt with. It is to be kept in mind that only because the Criminal Procedure Code does not provide for maximum Patna High Court CR. WJC No.947 of 2018(2) dt.14-09-2022 3/6 limit within which an investigation is to be com- pleted, it does not mean that the investigation is to be kept pending for decades. There are many judi- cial pronouncements of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in which the prosecution has been quashed because the investigating agency failed to complete the in- vestigation of the case despite lapse of several years. Undue delay in completion of investigation erodes public faith and confidence in the investigat- ing agency.
(IV) Upon receipt of a request/application /representation from a person connected with the case and aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the in- vestigation alleging improper investigation, com- plaints of threat to him or his family or the wit- nesses by his opponents, accused or his associates, it is the Sr. Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police of the concerned district and the Station House Officer of the concerned police station as well as the I.O. of the case who would be duty bound to enter or caused to be entered the informa- tion in the station diary of the police station and ex- amine or caused to be examined the threat percep-
tion of the informant and/or his family members/witnesses and take appropriate steps at the earliest, in the cases where threat perceptions are found to be genuine, they would take immediate measures to protect the life of the person(s) under threat. Delay in examining the request/representa- tion leading to any serious consequences shall in it- self be a matter of enquiry and action against the erring police officials.
(V) As regards the grievance that accused per- Patna High Court CR. WJC No.947 of 2018(2) dt.14-09-2022 4/6 sons are not being arrested in cases involving seri- ous and heinous offences the Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police/Investigating Officer shall take appropriate steps keeping in view the law and judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court on the subject. In the matter of absconding accused the I.O. must take immediate steps to arrest him and exhaust all other procedures in accordance with law with utmost expedition.
(VI) This Court has already reproduced the extracts from judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sakiri Vasu (supra). In the light of the said judgment, this Court directs that in all these cases the learned Magistrate(s) in whose court the case is pending, shall, without seeking any application from the informant monitor the investi- gation. They are fully competent to take a view as to whether a proper investigation is taking place or not. Learned Magistrates are expected to exercise their powers under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. to ensure that investigation of the case pending before the learned Magistrate is duly investigated. If it is found that the Investigating Officer is not proceed- ing with the investigation expeditiously and is keeping the same pending without rhyme or reason and in the opinion of the learned Magistrate it is found to be a case of inaction on the part of the In- vestigating Officer, the learned Magistrate would be well within his powers to direct the Senior Su- perintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police to change the Investigating Officer, to supervise the case himself by the Senior Superintendent of Po- lice/Superintendent of Police and to take appropri- Patna High Court CR. WJC No.947 of 2018(2) dt.14-09-2022 5/6 ate measures in accordance with law. While exer- cising his power under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., the learned Magistrate shall definitely monitor the in- vestigation, though he cannot investigate the case himself and will not act as supervisory authority but it is certainly within his domain to ensure that the investigation is done properly and for this purpose without interfering with the power of the Investi- gating Officer or the Supervising Authority to con- duct an investigation, the learned Magistrate may issue appropriate directions which in his opinion is required for conduct of proper investigation. What would be the nature of such direction(s) in a given case cannot be put in a straight jacket formula and it is for the learned Magistrate to look into this as- pect of the matter on case to case basis. An applica- tion filed by an aggrieved person with prior service of copy upon the learned Public Prosecutor/A.P.P. seeking directions for proper investigation must be heard expeditiously and the same be disposed of within a period of 30 days from the date on which such application is moved before the learned Mag- istrate on the first date. If the learned Magistrate fails to exercise his power under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. either on his own or on filing of the applica- tion by the aggrieved person, an appropriate appli- cation may be brought before this Court for an or- der/direction and monitoring as the case may be.
(VII) If any of the directions issued by the learned Magistrate in accordance with the order of this Court as stated above to the Senior Superinten- dent of Police/Superintendent of Police/investigat- ing officer, unless otherwise interfered with by a Patna High Court CR. WJC No.947 of 2018(2) dt.14-09-2022 6/6 competent court of law, is not given effect to by the concerned authorities, it will be taken to be a case of contempt of this Court and the learned Magis- trate may inform this Court as regards the willful disobedience or disregard shown to the order/or- ders, direction/directions issued by him in terms of this judgment. In such circumstance an aggrieved person may also file an application seeking initia- tion of contempt.
(VIII) All the stake-holders in the present writ applications shall act accordingly. A copy of this or- der be sent to the Director General of Police, Bihar to enable him to issue necessary instructions at the earliest."
The reliefs prayed in the present writ application shall be considered in terms of the directions nos. (1) to (VII) of the general order as stated hereinabove.
The petitioner, the respondents and all other stake-
holders are, therefore, directed to act accordingly.
This application stands disposed of accordingly.
(Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, J) Rajeev/-
U T Note: The ordersheet duly signed has been attached with the record. However, in view of the present arrangements, during Pandemic period all con- cerned shall act on the basis of the copy of the order uploaded on the High Court website under the heading 'Judicial Orders Passed During The Pan- demic Period'.