Soni Satti
The Supreme Court said that a First Information Report (FIR) is not an encyclopedia that must publish all evidence and data relating to the crime alleged, and that courts should not get through the merits of the charges while the police investigation is ongoing.
Noting that the police must be allowed to conclude their investigation, the Supreme Court stated that high courts must recognise that timely investigation is a prerequisite in the judicial administration of justice and that they should be cautious in intervening with criminal prosecutions at the outset.
A Bench led by Justice D Y Chandrachud recalled that it had seen numerous high court orders ordering that the accused not be arrested during the investigation or before the charge sheet is filed.
The Bench comprising Justices M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna stated,
‘‘The first information report is not an encyclopedia which must disclose all facts and details relating to the offence reported. Therefore, when the investigation by the police is in progress, the court should not go into the merits of the allegations in the FIR. Police must be permitted to complete the investigation,”
The Bench further held,‘‘It would be premature to pronounce the conclusion based on hazy facts that the complaint/FIR does not deserve to be investigated or that it amounts to abuse of process of law,’’
The Supreme Court ruling has overturned an interim order issued by the Bombay High Court in September last year, which directed that ‘‘no coercive measures shall be adopted’’ against the accused in connection with an FIR filed in 2019 on charges of cheating, forgery, and other offences.
The bench observed that there could be charges of misuse of rule of law in a particular situation, such as turning a civil dispute into a criminal dispute solely to pressurise the victim.
Similarly, in a particular situation, the allegation itself may be said to be barred by statute on its face.
The Court observed that the charges in the FIR/complaint do not reveal the commission of a cognizable offence at all and that the high court may stay the investigation in such cases and extraordinary cases with caution.
The bench stated that police have the statutory right as well as the duty to report a cognizable offence and gather information during the process of the search.
Therefore, passing such blanket interim directions without giving grounds, will obstruct the prosecution and may jeopardise the police’s constitutional obligation to investigate the cognizable crime conferred under the CrPC.