'Clean Road Outside Police Station For A Week' : Karnataka High Court Asks Station House Officer As Punishment For Failing To Register FIR

A division bench of Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice P Krishna Bhat while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by one Tarabai seeking to produce his son Suresh said:

"The entire development in the case after Suresh going missing discloses to us a very disturbing facet of the functioning of the police stations in this area of the State. The problem, primarily, is one of police officers not complying with the procedure prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, which places a high premium on the guarantee of liberty of the individuals."

The court noted that respondent no.3, has admitted that the petitioner Tarabai had approached him in the police station with a grievance that her son had been abducted and thereafter he was not found. The respondent no.3, at that point of time, was quite conscious that what was conveyed to him by the petitioner Tarabai constituted a cognizable offence and, therefore, he was obliged to make an entry in the Station House Diary, in regard to the same and further he was required to register FIR. If the facts disclosed to him amounted to an offence taking place within the limits of his police station, then he should have proceeded with the investigation of the case and if the offence disclosed took place outside his jurisdiction, then he was obliged to transfer the FIR to the jurisdictional police station for further investigation of the case.

The bench said "In Spite of the same, he has overlooked the mandate of law in as much as he has not made an entry in the Station House Diary regarding the substance of the information received nor has he registered FIR which has resulted in stultifying the precious right of the petitioner and her son Suresh."

The Government advocate requested the court to take a lenient view, for the said violation of the procedure notwithstanding the serious implications for the liberty of Suresh and further submitted that respondent no.3 is prepared to file an undertaking to do some community service to atone for the same.

Following which the police personnel filed the undertaking which read as "I the undersigned do hereby state that, as per the direction of the Hon'ble Court, I am ready to comply with the direction issued by the Hon'ble Court by cleaning the road in front of my Police Station for one week. That I render my unconditional apology for not registering the First Information Report and assure the Hon'ble Court that I will not repeat the same in future."

The court accepted the same and directed him to comply with the same. The court also directed the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi District to hold a Workshop/ Orientation course to all the police officers working within the Kalaburagi District on the subject of "Zero FIR" based on the decisions in  KIRTI VASHIST v. STATE AND OTHERS and 2) RHEA CHAKRABORTY V. STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHERS  and the provisions under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 pertaining to registration of FIR and investigation of cases.

Case details: Tarabai W/o Heerasing Rathod And The State of Karnataka.

Case no:. WRIT PETITION HABEAS CORPUS NO.200012/2020

Date of order: 17TH DAY OF DECEMBER 2020.

Coram: JUSTICE S.SUNIL DUTT YADAV AND JUSTICE P.KRISHNA BHAT.

Appearance: Ananth S. Jahagirdar for petitioner.

Advocate Archana P. Tiwari for respondent's.