MP HC Flags 'Serious Lapses' Committed During Murder Probe, Orders Formation Of Serious Crimes Investigation Supervising Teams In Every District

A single bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court presided over by Justice Subodh Abhyankar, has raised concerns about the quality of investigations in serious criminal cases.

The present case involved the bail application of Sumit Singh, accused of involvement in a 2020 robbery and murder case. The applicant's sixth bail plea under the newly implemented Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, and Section 439 of the CrPC. The court allowed bail due to delays in trial proceedings and a lack of concrete evidence.

Justice Subodh Abhyankar, in his order, stated that “only because of the failure on the part of the Investigating Officer and the Forensic experts, the benefit of doubt was given to the accused and he was acquitted for a heinous crime.. in the present case also, as already pointed out, the Investigating Officer made no efforts to take out the fingerprints from the house where the murder took place”.

The court cited cases such as Abhishek Dey vs. State of M.P. and Habu @ Sunil vs. State of M.P regarding failures in investigations and in these cases, DNA samples and forensic evidence were either not collected or were delayed, compromising the integrity of the investigation.

Justice Abhyankar emphasized, “Despite this Court pointing it out time and again that serious lapses have been committed by the Investigating Officers, there is no discernible progress in the methods and approach of investigation, and the accused persons are allowed to go scot-free, and it appears that whatever observations made by this Court or the other courts in this regard, are only for the satisfaction of their own conscience. It must be understood that when a criminal trial is doomed right from the beginning, only because of slipshod investigation, it is nothing but a sheer”

Due to such issues in investigative process, the court directed the Director General of Police (DGP), Madhya Pradesh, to establish a Serious Crimes Investigation Supervision Team in each district. “it is directed to the Director General of the Police, M.P., Bhopal, to ensure that in each district of the State, each and every investigation in serious crimes be supervised by a team comprising of two member, which shall be headed by a senior level police officer, not below the rank of an experienced IPS officer”

The order also stipulated that investigating officers must report regularly to the supervision team, which will be held accountable for any further investigative failures.

“The said Serious Crimes Investigation Supervising Team shall supervise the investigation, and the Investigating Officer shall also report and apprise the Team about the progress of the investigation for its inputs, to ensure that there are no lapses in the investigation, and the loopholes are plugged at the right time. The said team, together with the investigating officer, shall be held responsible for any lapses in the investigation”

The court further ordered to send the copy of the order to the Office of the Advocate General for its proper compliance and the compliance report of this order has to be sent to the Registry of Court within four weeks' time.

Case title: Sunit @ Sumit Singh Versus The State Of Madhya Pradesh

Case No: MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 28712 of 2024

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (MP) 221

Click Here To Read/Download Order