Delay In Forwarding FIR To Magistrate Wouldn't Be Fatal To Prosecution's Case If No Prejudice Caused To Accused : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed that a mere delay in forwarding the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate would not be fatal to the prosecution's case unless it is shown by the accused that the delay had caused prejudice to his case.

“This Court, in State of Rajasthan v. Daud Khan (2016), has examined the case law on the subject and held that when there is a delay in forwarding the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate and the accused raises a specific contention regarding the same, they must demonstrate how this delay has prejudiced their case. Mere delay by itself is not sufficient to discard and disbelieve the case of the prosecution.”, the court said.

The bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Kumar, and R. Mahadevan held so while reversing the Patna High Court's decision which had acquitted the accused persons in connection with former Bihar Minister Brij Bihari Prasad's Murder case.

One of the grounds taken by the High Court to acquit the accused was that the FIR was ante-timed i.e., one delay occurred in forwarding the FIR to the jurisdiction magistrate was taken against the prosecution and the accused were acquitted.

Brij Bihari's wife Rama Devi preferred an appeal against the High Court's decision before the Supreme Court.

Finding that the High Court committed an error while acquitting the accused, the court observed as follows:

“The occurrence having taken place at night on 13.06.1998, normally the FIR should have been sent to the jurisdictional magistrate on 14.06.1998. However, 14.06.1998 being a Sunday was a holiday. The FIR was forwarded to the jurisdictional magistrate on 15.06.1998. There is, therefore, an explanation for the delay in forwarding a copy of the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate in terms of Section 157 of the CrPC. It is trite law that a delay in forwarding the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate is not fatal to the prosecution case.”

“If the investigation starts in right earnest and there is sufficient material on record to show that the accused were named and pinpointed, the prosecution case can be accepted when evidence implicates the accused. The requirement to dispatch and serve a copy of the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate is an external check against ante dating or ante timing of the FIR to ensure that there is no manipulation or interpolation in the FIR. If the court finds the witnesses to be truthful and credible, the lack of a cogent explanation for the delay may not be regarded as detrimental.”, the judgment authored by Justice Khanna added.

Case Title: RAMA DEVI VERSUS THE STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHERS

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 776

Click here to read/download the judgment

Appearance:

For Appellant(s) Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Siddharth Aggarwal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Aditya Singia, Adv. Mr. Vishwajeet Bhati, Adv. Mr. Harsh Yadav, Adv. Mr. Ritwik Saha, Adv. Mr. Sharad Kumar Puri, Adv. Ms. Parul Sharma, Adv. Mrs. Pinki Aggarwal, Adv. Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR

For Respondent(s) Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General(N/P) Mr. K M Nataraj, A.S.G.(N/P) Ms. Sonia Mathur, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Archana Pathak Dave, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Ms. Sairica S Raju, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Rajan Kumar Chourasia, Adv. Mr. P V Yogeswaran, Adv. Ms. Ronika Tater, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Bhardwaj, Adv. Ms. Dipanshu Krishnan, Adv. Ms. Madhumita Kesavan, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Chandra Jaiswal, Adv. Mr. Surendra Singh, Sr. Adv.(N/P) Mr. Tripurari Ray, Adv. Mr. D. S. Parmar, Adv. Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR Mr. Abhishek Priyadarshi, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Singh, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Ray, Adv. Mr. Ashutosh Ghade, AOR Mr. Sunil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Nimit Bhimjiyani, Adv. Mr. Rahul Raman, Adv. Ms. Sneha Balapure, Adv. Mr. Raj Kamal, AOR Mr. Aseem Atwal, Adv. Mr. Kartavya Batra, Adv. Mr. Anurag Chandra, Adv. Ms. Nupur Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Stuti, Adv. Ms. Aprajita Tyagi, Adv. Ms. Muskan Sidana, Adv. Mr. Harneet Singh, Adv. Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Shantanu Sagar, AOR Mr. Raj Kumar, Adv. Mr. Prabhat Ranjan Raj, Adv. Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Gunjesh Ranjan, Adv. Mrs. Divya Mishra, Adv. Mr. Shashank Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Jain, AOR Mr. Manu Shanker Mishra, AOR Mr. Tripurari Ray, Adv. Mr. Laxmi Narayan Sharma, Adv. Mr. Vivekanand Singh, Adv. Mr. Nishant Kumar, Adv. Mr. Nithyananda Murthy P, Adv. Ms. Bhanu Prabha, Adv. Mr. Vaibha Kumar, Adv.