Cops should inform about refusal to register complaints

The Bombay High Court asks DGP to inform the complainants about refusal to record the information given by them regarding commission of offence.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed the Director General of Police to issue directions to all the police stations in Maharashtra asking the officers in-charge to inform the complainants about refusal to record the information given by them regarding commission of offence. "To enable the complainant to expeditiously avail of the statutory remedies, the minimum which is expected is that he should be immediately informed by the officer in-charge of the police station regarding the fate of the complaint", said Justice Sadhana Jadhav and Justice Abhay Oka.

"If a police officer decides to register information in accordance with subsection (1) of Section 154, for which he has hardly any choice, he is duty-bound to give a copy of the information recorded to the complainant free of cost. But if he is of the view that a case of commission of cognisable offence is not made out, he must forthwith inform the complainant accordingly by a communication," the bench noted. Appropriate time limit -- which should be very short -- will have to be provided for issuing such communication so that the very object of lodging complaint should not be frustrated. If there is a gross delay in issuing communication, even the remedies provided under the said Code in a given case may become redundant, the judges observed. The judges were hearing a petition claiming that no action had been taken, though a complaint had been lodged with Vadgaon Nimbalkar police station in Baramati taluka in Pune district on August 26, 2011, alleging commission of cognisable offences by certain persons. The bench directed the concerned police officer to communicate in writing within a week to the petitioner, Vijaya Nikam, the decision taken on the basis of her complaint. The Court further observed that section 154 of Cr.PC clearly states that the concerned police officer shall record information supplied to him or brought to his notice disclosing commission of a cognisable offence. PTI