Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, February 14
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the police were under a statutory obligation to register an FIR on receipt of information regarding the commission of a cognisable offence, irrespective of the fact that the occurrence may have taken place beyond its jurisdiction.
Travesty of law
Refusal to register an FIR due to jurisdictional issues will be a travesty of justice as the aggrieved person will not only be at crossroads, but also lost in the web of technicalities which can result in loss of crucial time in some cases. Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul, Punjab amp; Haryana HC
The High Court also made it clear that refusal by the police to register an FIR due to jurisdictional issues would be a travesty of justice. The Bench also made it clear that an ordinary citizen, not well versed with the provisions of law, was not expected to be aware about the technicalities of territorial jurisdiction.
The assertion by Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul came in a case where an FIR was registered in June last year against a woman’s husband and mother-in-law for subjecting her to cruelty, criminal breach of trust and other offences under Sections 498-A, 406, 323 and 506 of the IPC at women cell police station in Jalandhar.
Seeking the quashing of the FIR and all subsequent proceedings, their counsel contended that the respondent-woman, as per the allegations in the FIR, was allegedly subjected to cruelty in her matrimonial home at Delhi. As such, the police at Delhi alone had the jurisdiction to deal with the matter. It was further submitted the police at Jalandhar had exceeded its jurisdiction in registering the present FIR.
Justice Kaul further asserted it would also not be out of context to observe that the role of the police in criminal justice system was to provide immediate assistance to the complainant as and when it was approached. Justice Kaul observed: “Therefore, refusal to register an FIR due to jurisdictional issues would be a travesty of justice as the aggrieved person would not only be at crossroads, but also lost in the web of technicalities which could result in loss of crucial time in some cases.”
In her detailed order, Justice Kaul added nothing would bar the police from transferring the case to the police station having jurisdiction in the matter, if it concluded after considering the material on record during investigation that the cause of action arose at a place beyond its jurisdiction.
Dismissing the petition, Justice Kaul further added it could not be said that the police at Jalandhar did not had the jurisdiction to investigate the FIR at the respondent’s instance after she shifted to Jalandhar on being thrown out of her matrimonial home. It was more so when, admittedly, no FIR regarding the earlier complaints by the complainant at Delhi was registered.
Police can’t refuse FIR over jurisdictional issues, says Punjab and Haryana High Court
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