RADHA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the petitioner has approached this Court to seek directions to direct the police to register an FIR and investigate the case expeditiously.

(2.) The present petition was filed by the petitioner on 3.11.2008 and the same was taken up by this Court on 5.11.2008 in the presence of the State Prosecutor. The case in hand depicts the sordid, despotic and nepotic functioning of the Delhi Police who in a most brazen, blatant and contemptuous manner have flouted and defied not only the mandate of the law as envisaged under Section 154 of Cr.P.C., but also various directions given by the Hon?ble Apex Court and the High Court pronouncing that once any information disclosing the commission of a cognizable offence is brought before the police officer of a police station, then the concerned police officer is bound to register an FIR.

(3.) Before I proceed to discuss the legal position and the approach of the concerned police officials including that of the rank of not less than the Additional Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner of Police, it would be apt to give a sequence of facts which compelled the petitioner to approach this court by invoking the inherent powers of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The petitioner happens to be an unfortunate sister of a 22 year old young boy namely Brijesh Kumar @ Birju who had gone out from his house i.e. House No. B-9/427, Sector-3, Rohini, Delhi on the evening of 05.08.2007 for some work and did not return until midnight. When Brijesh did not return till midnight, his mother went out in search of him and later on approached the local police so as to report missing of her son. The police, however, did not oblige her and the mother came back with the hope that her son Brijesh may come back home soon. On 6.8.2007, someone informed the police that the dead body of a person is lying in the park of B-9, Sector-3, Rohini. The petitioner and her family members after having come to know about the said information reached the spot and were shocked to find the dead body of Brijesh. As per the petitioner, she and the other family members had noticed some injuries on the head and other parts of the body of the deceased. The deceased was removed by the police to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital by PCR Van bearing No. C-43 and thereafter the body was referred to the mortuary of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for postmortem. The petitioner and her mother visited the police station for the registration of the case but the police refused to register any case. The petitioner then sent telegrams to various higher authorities requesting them to give directions to the concerned SHO of P.S. Rohini to register an FIR and for thorough investigation of the case. The petitioner had also apprised the police that on 3.8.2007 a quarrel between the deceased and one Vaibhav Gautam @ Michael had taken place over some girl and the deceased was threatened by the said Michael that he would be killed. Since the police did not register any FIR, therefore, the petitioner filed a writ petition before this court vide W.P.(C) No. 1096/2007 to seek directions for the registration of an FIR. The High Court did not entertain the said writ petition filed by the petitioner in view of the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Aleque Padamsee & Ors. Union of India & Ors. and directed the petitioner to approach the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate under Section 156(3) of Cr.P.C., instead of invoking the writ jurisdiction of this court. Pursuant to the said direction of the High Court, the petitioner filed a complaint case before the concerned Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi on 29.8.2007, but even after the lapse of more than one year, neither the Magistrate give any direction to the police to investigate the said crime nor did the concerned police officials take any steps in this direction. It is also the case of the petitioner that the learned Magistrate allowed the police a free hand for over a period of one year without directing registration of a case involving such a heinous and grave crime of the nature of murder and also that the police started conducting a preliminary inquiry first at the level of the local police and then by the Crime Branch but did not choose to register an FIR.