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(3) Any Magistrate empowered under Section 190 may order such an investigation as above-mentioned."

Fair Investigation - Rule of Law:

7. The criminal justice system mandates that any investigation into the crime should be fair, in accordance with law and should not be tainted. It is equally important that interested or influential persons are not able to misdirect or hijack the investigation, so as to throttle a fair investigation resulting in the offenders escaping punitive course of law. These are important facets of the rule of law. Breach of rule of law amounts to negation of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Article 21 of the Constitution of India makes it clear that the procedure in criminal trials must be right, just and fair and not arbitrary, fanciful or oppressive, vide Menka Gandhi vs. Union of India1 (para-7) and Vinubhai Haribhai Malviya and others vs. State of Gujrat and another2 (paras-16 and 17) and Subramanian Swamy vs. C.B.I.3 (para-86). Article 21 enshrines and guarantees the precious right of life and personal liberty to a person which can only be deprived on following the procedure established by law in a fair trial which assures the safety of the accused. The assurance of a fair trial is the first imperative of the dispensation of justice, vide Commissioner of Police, Delhi vs. Registrar, Delhi High Court, New Delhi4 (para-16). The ultimate aim of all investigation and inquiry whether by the police or by the Magistrate is to ensure that those who have actually committed a crime, are correctly booked and those who have not, are not arraigned to stand trial. This is the minimal and fundamental requirement of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Interpretation of provisions of Cr.P.C. needs to be made so as to ensure that Article 21 is followed both in letter and in sprit. "A speedy trial" is the essence of companion in concept in "fair trial". Both being inalienable jurisprudentially, the guarantee under Article 21 of the Constitution of India embraces both life and liberty of the accused as well as interest of the victim, his near and dear ones as well as of the community at large and, therefore, cannot be alienated from each other. A fair trial includes fair investigation as reflected from Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India. If the investigation is neither effective nor purposeful nor objective nor fair, the courts may if considered necessary, may order fair investigation, further investigation or reinvestigation as the case may be to discover the truth so as to prevent miscarriage of justice. However, no hard and fast rules as such can be prescribed by way of uniform and universal invocation and decision shall depend upon facts and circumstances of each case.