Delhi HC reserves order on plea challenging trail court direction for registration of FIR against police officials
Apr 04, 2022
New Delhi [India], April 4 : The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved the order on pleas moved by Delhi police challenging the trial court's judgement that directed the registration of FIR against the Police personnel of Dwarka District.
The Delhi Police stated that any direction to lodge an FIR against honest officers, acting bona fide to police a crime-ridden district is not only perverse but also violates the rights of those officers under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Justice Yogesh Khanna reserved the order after hearing submissions by the counsel for Delhi Police. The Additional DCP, Dwarka District has challenged the order passed by the Court of Additional Session Judge (ASJ), Dwarka Court on March 24, 2022.
Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) for Delhi Police Avi Singh argued that the trial court clubbed three separate FIRs related to separate cases, and through a common order granted bail to all accused without considering their antecedents, recoveries or the scope of their involvement in the crime.
Avi Singh also argued the trial court judge stepped beyond the jurisdictional mandate of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and directed that the handwritten complaint filed in the bail application unsupported by affidavit, be converted into Section 156(3) complaints and put up before the Metropolitan Magistrate (MM).
The Counsel for Delhi Police further argued that the trial court judge erred by recording adverse findings against the raiding party on the basis of an ipse dixit (unproven) statement by the accused, and entirely prejudging the case against the Police.
It was also argued that without recommending the matter for a vigilance enquiry or to the jurisdictional police complaints authority, the trial court judge virtually directed the MM to register an FIR against the police officials, which is entirely de hors (outside the scope of) the mandate of Section 156 (3) CrPC and against the principle of separation of powers underlined in the Constitution of India and the CrPC.
ASC argued that the ASJ erred in law by seeking the registration of FIR without considering that a prior sanction under Section 140 of the Delhi Police Act is required for initiating an investigation under Section 156 (3) of the CrPC.
The trial court while granting bail to accused Deepak Chauhan, Bablu and Aijaj had noted that accused Irshad, Aijaj, Deepak Chauhan, Bablu and Sachin had gunshot injuries in their knees while they were trying to flee after firing at the police party in different cases on different dates in 2021.
