We simply but firmly believe that once an FIR is registered, the police has no option but to investigate the case, collect evidences, record statements of the witnesses and file a final report, produce a challan in the court and ensure there were no loopholes in the entire process at their end. The importance of an FIR hardly needs to be underlined in that it sets in motion, the process of criminal justice system. The law is specific about what happens immediately after a cognizable offence is committed and authorises anyone knowing about such offence, anyone against whom an offence is committed or anyone having seen an offence being committed, to file an FIR including by police officers themselves. In other words, filing of FIRs and investigating the offence are two faces of the same coin, one is incomplete without the other– is what could be told in common and ordinary parlance. However, it is a matter of concern as well as astonishment that numerous FIRs filed with police stations in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir are not proceeded further with proper investigation on professional lines in the fastest time bound manner and could be termed as ”pending” or in ”arrears”.
Situation reaching this pass that Public Interest Litigations are filed in the courts for impressing upon the police authorities to accord the due legal status and importance to the FIRs, speaks very poor about the department itself. In this connection, while hearing the suo-moto Public Interest Litigation through virtual mode, the Division Bench of High Court has taken a serious note of inordinate delay in investigation in the FIRs lodged quite some time back. Answers for such lapses have been, therefore, sought from the Home Secretary, Director General of Police and Director Anti-Corruption Bureau. An ordinary citizen would definitely feel bewildered and even dejected that while law allows information about a cognizable offence given even orally, the police was duty bound to write it down and dispense a copy of such report to the complainant or the petitioner and in case of any refusal, an intimation about it could be given to a senior police officer even up to the ranks of a DIG or IG, why investigation process was too lazy and slow. Looking to the status of majority of the FIRs, it is feared, that in most of the cases, a carefree and non serious approach was defeating the very purpose of an FIR which was glaring proof of under performance of the Police Department.
It is only in the fitness of things that the court has asked for the names of such police officers who were, by law, obliged to investigate but have failed in doing so. Even the present status, the reasons and other details relevant to the process of investigation have been asked for by the court to be submitted before it in the next hearing. Needless to add, we, through these columns, have been voicing concern over dilly dallying in post filing procedures of FIRs and whether monthly statements or any regular information about the status of filed FIRs were regularly being submitted to higher authorities where case to case scrutiny could be done and responsibility and accountability fixed on delinquent and lethargic personnel who were taking crucial investigating part quite casually. The Division Bench has also asked for the submission of the information about whether prevalence of a system of monitoring of investigation in the registered FIRs existed. It has further asked as to whether there were any administrative instructions for taking action against the investigating officers if they did not complete investigation within the specified time.
The Division Bench has also asked the General Administration Department to appraise the court about the departmental action taken against the employees involved in corrupt practices. Most of the accused were not even placed under suspension, instead we have reported instances of many getting promoted or transferred to hold ‘plum’ posts. That was tantamount to encouraging corruption quite brazenly. Without mincing words, the trend among many police officers or in charge of police posts to discourage an aggrieved to file an FIR stems from the fact that the same was to be followed by a proper investigation which by total refusal at the initial stage was sought to be pre-empted and avoided. ‘Change fast, act and perform or quit’ should be the administrative guidelines.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
