257. Abstention from investigation. [§ 12, Act V, 1861].
(a)Any officer-in-charge of a police-station may, under section 157(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, refrain altogether from investigating a case in which there appears to him to be insufficient ground for investigating.(b)Police officers shall observe the following broad principles in exercising the discretion vested in them by section 157(b) of the Code of Criminal :-I. Every cognizable offence, other than one of those enumerated in clause II below, shall ordinarily be investigated, if the informant so desires. If for any special reason no investigation is made, the special reason shall be recorded.II. No investigation shall ordinarily be made in -(i)cases in which the injured person does not wish for an enquiry, unless the offence has occurred in a crime centre or appears to be really serious, or may reasonably be suspected to be the work of a professional or habitual offender or a member of a criminal tribe known to be addicted to crime, or unless it is otherwise desirable in the interests of the public that the case shall be investigated ;(ii)cases which, after consideration of the information and of anything which the informant may have to say. appear to fall under section 95, Indian Penal Code; and(iii)cases in which the information shows the case to be of a purely civil nature, i.e., where the informant is apparently seeking to take advantage of a petty or technical offence to bring into the criminal Courts a matter which ought properly to be decided by the Civil Courts.These instructions indicate only general principle, and police officers shall exercise their discretion in every cognizable case that is reported to them.Note - In the cases referred to in clause II (iii) above, the points to be considered are whether the complainant can obtain adequate redress from the Courts by instituting a prosecution, and whether action on the part of the police is expedient for the preservation of order. When the charge is of enticing away a girl (section 363, Indian Penal Code, and cognate sections), the police should be careful to ascertain that the case is not one of elopement or of a girl running away to her parents on account of ill-treatment, and in cases of cattle theft that it is not a mere dispute as to ownership, or as to the payment of the price of an animal purchased.(c)In cases where investigation is refused the complainant or informant shall be informed in B.P. Form No. 37 or 37A of the fact and of the reasons for abstention.
