Delhi HC directs police to file final report in 8 years old cheating case against cop
May 28, 2022
New Delhi [India], May 28 : The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Delhi Police to file a final report in an eight-year-old cheating case registered against a cop.
The High Court passed the direction while dismissing a petition moved by the cop seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in 2014. The plea points out that the charge sheet has not been filed in the case even after a long time.
Justice Asha Menon dismissed the petition with a cost of Rs 10,000 to be deposited with the Delhi High Court Staff Welfare Fund.
The Court directed the Investigation Officer to file a final report in the case, not later than three months from the date of passing of this order.
"It appears that because the petitioner is himself a policeman. He has succeeded in stalling the investigations and preventing prosecution. Now he seeks to benefit from such wanton interference with the course of justice. That cannot be permitted," Justice Menon said in the order.
The bench observed, "Unfortunately, despite the complaint in 2014, nothing happened and the complainant had to move an application before the magistrate when an FIR has been registered. A vague report was filed by the police, for the complainant cannot be held responsible. No charge sheet has been filed to date even after the lapse of eight years."
"How can an ordinary citizen of this country be blamed for the willful inaction of the police? Can his rights to legal remedy be so defeated? Every citizen of this country is entitled to the protection of the law," the bench further observed.
The petitioner filed a petition seeking the quashing of an FIR registered for cheating and forging documents related to a property in Police Station Nand Nagari Delhi.
Advocate Abhinav Sharma counsel for the petitioner contended that the dispute between the parties, namely the petitioners and complainant, was fundamentally a civil dispute.
He submitted by referring to the Supreme Court judgment that when a civil remedy was available, the court ought to quash the criminal proceedings to prevent abuse of the process of the court.
It was further submitted that the FIR has been belatedly registered after a delay of seven years. And, the law does not permit a second complaint on the same facts and therefore the FIR was liable to be quashed.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that this was only a malicious attempt to arm-twist the petitioner to succumb to the pressure of the complainant/respondent and give up their civil claim against him. Till date, no charge sheet has been filed and as the plea of intoxication at the time of appending signature, after the lapse of so many years is unverifiable, the plea of the complainant/respondent that the petitioners had taken signatures on blank papers was a wishy-washy claim.
