Punjab and Haryana HC admonishes police for skipping FIR in murder case

In a major embarrassment for the Punjab Police, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has rapped it for adopting a procedure unknown to law in a case alleging murder. Chief Justice Sheel Nagu asserted the police resorted to a “novel and extra-legal method” of conducting an inquiry without registering an FIR, violating established legal principles. The court also directed Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police to file an affidavit justifying the “action/inaction on the part of the police authorities”.

The assertion came on a petition seeking murder case registration against Baba Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwala. Taking up the plea filed through counsel Navneet Kaur, Amarjot Kaur and Manpreet Singh Bhatti, Chief Justice Nagu took note of the contention that the information in the matter was furnished to the Station House Officer of City police station in Patiala vide representation dated May 24, 2012.

In his detailed order, Chief Justice Nagu referred to the State counsel’s submission that an FIR was not lodged, but an inquiry was conducted by the police. Proceedings under Section 167(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure were initiated, but the entire inquiry was dropped.

Chief Justice Nagu asserted the court ordinarily would have directed the petitioner to approach the magistrate concerned under the provisions of the BNSS. But it was inclined to interfere since the offence alleged was of murder.

Chief Justice Nagu asserted the procedural lapse ran contrary to the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the case of “Lalita Kumari versus the State of UP”, which mandated FIR registration upon receipt of a complaint regarding a cognizable offence. He reiterated that the police were required to register an FIR, conduct an investigation, and file either a closure or final report based on the findings, once a cognizable offence was reported.