Bombay High Court Asks State If Mumbai Police Commissioner Will Withdraw Circular Mandating DCP's Nod For Filing POCSO FIRs

A division bench of Justice Mohite Dere and Justice VG Bisht was hearing a challenge to the circular issued on June 6, 2022 with an intent to curb the misuse of the Act.

It may be noted that owing to recent outrage against the circular, the CP announced that it would be kept in abeyance.

On Thursday, the bench was seized with a petition filed by a tribal woman from Nandurbar settled in Mumbai. She claimed that the police have refused to take note of her daughter's sexual assault allegedly by a policeman, even after a passage of ten months.

Advocate Arjun Kadam for the woman submitted that there was no legal basis for the circular. He said that Section 19 of POCSO Act clearly prescribes the procedure for registration of an FIR in cases of a sexual assault.

Moreover, the police cannot by way of the circular amend a parliamentary legislation. Kadam argued that according to the Supreme Court judgement in Lalita Kumari's case a preliminary enquiry is conducted only to ascertain if an offence is cognizable or not. Whether allegations are true or not would be decided though an investigation.

Since offences under POCSO are all cognizable, a preliminary inquiry is not required, he said.

The court then sought to know the state's stand on the issue. Since the public prosecutor said she did not have any instructions, the bench asked her to directly seek instructions from CP Sanjay Pandey who issued the circular.

The court asked the PP ascertain if the CP was willing to withdraw the circular. It then posted the matter for hearing on June 23, 2022.