Chandigarh, September 5: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that a police officer conducting a raid, arresting the accused with contraband or acting as a complainant in a case can’t investigate and file a challan in the matter.
Looking at the “seriousness of the matter”, Justice AB Chaudhari of the High Court also asked Punjab, Haryana and UT Directors-General of Police along with Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director to issue wireless/urgent orders and circulars to all police stations and quarters concerned under them to act accordingly.
Taking up a petition filed by Jaspal Singla against the state of Punjab, Justice Chaudhari asserted that the court had come across judgment dated August 16 passed in criminal appeal number 1880 of 2011 in the case of Mohan Lal versus the state of Punjab in a trial under the NDPS Act.
Pronounced by three Judges’ Bench of the apex court, it stated “a fair investigation, which is but the very foundation of fair trial, necessarily postulates that the informant and the investigator must not be the same person.”
Justice Chaudhari added, “As such, the police officer/complainant conducting the raid or arresting the accused with contraband cannot at all make investigation and file the final investigation report under Section 173 of the CrPC, otherwise the entire trial will stand vitiated and the accused persons can be liable to be acquitted.”
“In the opinion of this court qua the states of Punjab and Haryana and Union Territory of Chandigarh, which are within the jurisdiction of this court, the issue has extremely serious ramifications in the administration of criminal justice system,” Justice Chaudhari added.
Responding to the assertion, Punjab state counsel submitted that the instructions were being issued by the Police Department after taking into consideration the SC assertions. Before parting with the order, Justice Chaudhari directed the Registry to send the copies of the order by FAX to the authorities. A compliance report would also be submitted to this court by all the authorities on September 4. Justice Chaudhari added.
An FIR in the case under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered on April 2, last year, at the Tapa Mandi police station in Barnala.
Source Tribune India
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