Patna High Court - Orders
Raj Kumar Gupta vs The State Of Bihar Through The Principal ... on 21 October, 2022
Author: Rajeev Ranjan Prasad
Bench: Rajeev Ranjan Prasad
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
(FROM OFFICIAL CHAMBERS VIA VIDEO APPLICATION)
Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.813 of 2022
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-1215 Year-2019 Thana- NAWADA District- Nawada
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Raj Kumar Gupta S/o Late Nandlal Saw R/o Mohalla- Indira Gandhi Chowk,
Station Road, P.S.- Nawada (Town), District- Nawada
... ... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Principal Sect. Dept. of Home, Govt. of Bi-
har, Patna
2. The Director General of Police, Bihar, Patna
3. The Superintendent of Police, Bihar, Patna
4. The Superintendent of Police (Rail), Patna
5. The Station House Officer, Nawada (Town) Police Station, Nawada
6. The Station House Officer, Rail Police Station Patna Junction
7. The Investigating Officer of the Nawada (Town), P.S.- Case No. 1215 of
2019 dated 11-10-2019
8. The Investigating Officer of the Rail Police Station Patna Junction P.S. Case
No. 16 /20 dated15.1.2020
... ... Respondents
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shankar Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Md. Irshad, AC to SC-1
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJEEV RANJAN PRASAD
ORAL ORDER
2 21-10-2022Learned counsel for the petitioner shall remove all the S.R. defects within a period of four weeks from today.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Md.
Irshad, learned AC to SC-1 for the State.
Petitioner in the present case is seeking following re-
liefs:-
"I. For commanding the respondents to con- clude the proper investigation of Nawada (Town) P.S. Case No. 1215 of 2019 dated 11/10/2019 which was lodged for the offence punishable un- Patna High Court CR. WJC No.813 of 2022(2) dt.21-10-2022 2/7 der Sections 406, 419, 420 of the Indian Penal Code since the investigation is perfunctory and tainted as still the accused has not been arrested by the Police.
II. For commanding the respondents to conclude the proper investigation of Rail P.S. Patna Junc- tion Case No. 16 of 2020 dated 15/01/2020 which was lodged for the offence punishable un- der Section 224 of the Indian Penal Code since the investigation is perfunctory and tainted as still the accused has not been arrested by the Po- lice.
III. For the execution of the process under Sec- tion 82 of Cr.P.C. which was issued by the Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nawada on 12/10/2020 against the accused Gurinder Singh Chawla.
IV. For taking actions against the erring Police Officials who have not concluded the Investiga- tion of the case even after passing of about three years.
V. For grant of any other appropriate relief or re- liefs for which the petitioner may be deemed to be entitled."
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that when the accused Gurinder Singh Chawla was taken into custody and was being brought to Nawada in Amritsar-Howrah Express on 15.01.2020, he managed to flee from the custody of the Police after allegedly pushing Constable Deepak Kumar. For this, Rail Police Station Patna Junction P.S. Case No. 16 of 2020 dated 15.01.2020 has been lodged for the offence punishable under Section 224 of the I.P.C. Learned counsel submits that in the present case, on 12.10.2020 process under Section 82 Cr.P.C. Patna High Court CR. WJC No.813 of 2022(2) dt.21-10-2022 3/7 has been issued against the accused but the police is not execut-
ing the same , therefore, the accused is moving freely.
It is submitted that the petitioner has made several representations to the Senior Police Officials and some of them have been enclosed as Annexure '5' to the writ application. The grievance is that the police is not properly investigating the case.
Mr. Irshad, learned AC to SC-1 appears for the State.
It is submitted that in such circumstance, appropriate order may be passed by this Court in terms of order dated 09.09.2022 passed in Cr.W.J.C. No. 153 of 2017 and other analogous mat-
ters.
In the nature of the grievance of the petitioner, this Court directs the Superintendent of Police, Nawada (Respondent No. 3) to take immediate steps to execute the process under Sec-
tion 82 Cr.P.C. against the accused Gurinder Singh Chawla who is said to have managed to flee away from the custody of the po-
lice. All endeavours be made to bring him to the jurisdiction of the court below.
The Respondent No. 3 shall also supervise the pend-
ing investigations and issue necessary instructions keeping in view the directions issued by this Court in Cr.W.J.C. No. 153 of Patna High Court CR. WJC No.813 of 2022(2) dt.21-10-2022 4/7 2017 and other analogous matters. The directions contained therein are being reproduced hereunder:-
"(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 Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police of the concerned district drawing his attention to-
wards the pending investigation. The aggrieved person shall submit his stand by way of an application 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 investigat- ing officer of the case.
(II) On receipt of such application from the ag- grieved person, the Senior Superintendent of Police/ Su- perintendent of Police shall himself supervise the said case within a period of two weeks, wherever necessary he shall give a chance of hearing 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/ Superin- tendent of Police shall issue necessary instructions 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 an- gles within a reasonable period. What will be the reason- able 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 Proce- dure Code does not provide for maximum limit within which an investigation is to be completed, it does not mean that the investigation is to be kept pending for decades. There are many judicial 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. Un- Patna High Court CR. WJC No.813 of 2022(2) dt.21-10-2022 5/7 due delay in completion of investigation erodes public faith and confidence in the investigating agency.
(IV) Upon receipt of a request/application /represen- tation from a person connected with the case and ag- grieved by and dissatisfied with the investigation alleging improper investigation, complaints of threat to him or his family or the witnesses by his opponents, accused or his associates, it is the Sr. Superintendent of Police/Superin- tendent 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 information in the station diary of the police station and examine or caused to be examined the threat perception of the informant and/or his family members/witnesses and take appropriate steps at the earli- est, 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/representation leading to any serious conse- quences shall in itself be a matter of enquiry and action against the erring police officials.
(V) As regards the grievance that accused persons are not being arrested in cases involving serious and heinous offences the Senior Superintendent of Police/Su- perintendent of Police/Investigating Officer shall take ap- propriate steps keeping in view the law and judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court on the subject. In the matter of ab- sconding accused the I.O. must take immediate steps to ar- rest 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 Magis- trate(s) in whose court the case is pending, shall, without seeking any application from the informant monitor the in- vestigation. They are fully competent to take a view as to whether a proper investigation is taking place or not. Patna High Court CR. WJC No.813 of 2022(2) dt.21-10-2022 6/7 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 in- vestigated. If it is found that the Investigating Officer is not proceeding 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 Investigating Officer, the learned Magistrate would be well within his powers to di- rect the Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police to change the Investigating Officer, to supervise the case himself by the Senior Superintendent of Police/Super- intendent of Police and to take appropriate measures in ac- cordance with law. While exercising his power under Sec- tion 156(3) Cr.P.C., the learned Magistrate shall definitely monitor the investigation, 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 investiga- tion is done properly and for this purpose without interfer- ing with the power of the Investigating Officer or the Su- pervising Authority to conduct an investigation, the learned Magistrate may issue appropriate directions which in his opinion is required for conduct of proper investiga- tion. 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 aspect of the matter on case to case basis. An application filed by an ag- grieved person with prior service of copy upon the learned Public Prosecutor/A.P.P. seeking directions for proper in- vestigation 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 Magis- trate on the first date. If the learned Magistrate fails to ex- ercise his power under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. either on his own or on filing of the application by the aggrieved per- son, an appropriate application may be brought before this Court for an order/direction and monitoring as the case may be.
Patna High Court CR. WJC No.813 of 2022(2) dt.21-10-2022 7/7 (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 Superintendent of Police/Super- intendent of Police/investigating officer, unless otherwise interfered with by a 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 Magistrate may inform this Court as regards the willful disobedience or disregard shown to the order/orders, direction/directions issued by him in terms of this judgment. In such circum- stance an aggrieved person may also file an application seeking initiation of contempt.
(VIII) All the stake-holders in the present writ appli- cations shall act accordingly. A copy of this order be sent to the Director General of Police, Bihar to enable him to issue necessary instructions at the earliest."
Let the investigation of the case be properly con-
ducted/monitored by the competent authority/court, as the case may be, keeping in view the aforesaid directions.
This application stands disposed of accordingly.
Certified copy of this order shall be made available only after removal of the defects.
(Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, J) lekhi/-
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'.