Madras High Court
R.Chandravelrajan vs The Superintendent Of Police on 20 February, 2020
Author: A.D.Jagadish Chandira
Bench: A.D.Jagadish Chandira
Crl.O.P.(MD) No.2972 of 2020
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 20.02.2020
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.D.JAGADISH CHANDIRA
CRL.O.P (MD) No.2972 of 2020
R.Chandravelrajan ... Petitioner
Vs
1.The Superintendent of Police,
Office of the District Superintendent of Police,
Korampallam,
Thuthukudi.
2.The Deputy Superintendent of Police,
District Crime Branch,
Thuthukudi. ... Respondents
PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C,
praying to direct the respondents not to harass the petitioner and also
the staff of the Mahasemam Trust (Public Trust), No.519, Karpaga
Nagar, 16th Street, K.Pudur, Madurai pursuant to the summons issued
by the second respondent dated 05.02.2020.
For Petitioner : Mr.S.Ramesh
For Respondents : Mr.S.Chandrasekar
1 and 2 Additional Public Prosecutor
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Crl.O.P.(MD) No.2972 of 2020
ORDER
This petition has been filed seeking direction to the respondents not to harass the petitioner and also the staff of the Mahasemam Trust (Public Trust), No.519, Karpaga Nagar, 16th Street, K.Pudur, Madurai pursuant to the summons issued by the second respondent dated 05.02.2020.
2.The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the respondent police harassed the petitioner under the guise of enquiry.
3.The learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent police submits that on the complaint given by one Sankar against the petitioner, petition enquiry is pending in Current Paper No.P4/03744/8/2020 on the file of the first respondent police.
4.Heard learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner and learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents. 2/6 http://www.judis.nic.in Crl.O.P.(MD) No.2972 of 2020
5.It is the grievance of the petitioner that the respondent police has been harassing him under the guise of an enquiry/investigation and hence, has invoked the inherent powers of this Court under Section 482 of Cr.P.C.
6.An enquiry into a non cognizable offence or a cognizable offence is the unfettered powers of the Investigation Officers so long as the power to investigate/enquire into these offences are legitimately exercised within the frame work of Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Though the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the Magistrate to be a guardian in all the stages of the police investigation, there is no power envisaging him to interfere with the actual investigation or the mode of investigation. It is in this background that numerous petitions complaining of harassment are being reported and filed before this Court seeking for directions to refrain the police officials from harassing the persons named in a complaint.
7.This Court, exercising its power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code normally would not interfere with the investigation conducted by a police officer. Nevertheless, it would also 3/6 http://www.judis.nic.in Crl.O.P.(MD) No.2972 of 2020 not turn a blind eye to instances of harassment by the police under the guise of investigation is brought to its notice.
8.In the present case in hand, the petitioner has complained of harassment by the police based on a complaint and seek for this Court's intervention by way of a direction. The term 'harassment' by itself has a very wide meaning and hence, what could be harassment to the petitioner may not be the same to the police officer.
9.In order to circumvent such situations, the following guidelines are issued:
a)While summoning any person named in the complaint or any witness to the incident complained of, the police officer shall summon such person through a written summon under Section 160 Cr.P.C., specifying a particular date and time for appearing before them for such an enquiry/investigation.
b) The respondent police is directed to serve summons mentioning the CSR number, date of complaint and the name of the complainant
c)The minutes of the enquiry shall be recorded in the general diary/station diary/daily diary of the police station. 4/6
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d)The police officer shall refrain himself or herself from harassing persons called upon for enquiry/investigation.
e)The guidelines stipulated for preliminary enquiry or registration of FIR by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari Vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others [2014 (2) SCC (1)] shall be strictly adhered to.
10.With the above observations and direction, the Criminal Original Petition stands disposed of.
20.02.2020 Internet:Yes./No Index:Yes/no vsg To
1.The Superintendent of Police, Office of the District Superintendent of Police, Korampallam, Thuthukudi.
2.The Deputy Superintendent of Police, District Crime Branch, Thuthukudi.
3.The Additional Public Prosecutor, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai.
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vsg Order made in CRL.O.P (MD) No.2972 of 2020 20.02.2020 6/6 http://www.judis.nic.in