If the Supreme Court has its way, police officers who fail to register a case or lodge an FIR may now even have to face imprisonment for their ''inaction.'' Besides being jailed for abdicating his duty, the erring cop could even face contempt of court apart from a departmental inquiry.
Pained by innumerable instances across the country where the police simply refuse to register an FIR if a common man goes with his complaint, a Bench headed by Justice B N Agrawal on Friday underlined that the directives issued last month would not be amended or modified. The order, containing a slew of directions issued on July 14, ''still stands and will stand'', the court noted.
''Earlier, there was a concept of Ram Rajya. Even during the freedom struggle, people used to believe in swaraj but now that's gone. People now need huntering, (flogging) nothing seems to be moving without it,'' observed Justice Agrawal, who took exception to the fact that all states, except two, had failed to respond to a slew of directions issued at the hearing.
The said directive has effectively empowered the citizen, who, after being refused registration of his complaint, can approach the magistrate, seeking directions to the police to lodge an FIR and also make a copy available to him within 24 hours of the order. The magistrate can also direct the police ''to take immediate steps for apprehending the accused or recovery of kidnapped persons and properties'' within a specified time.
The court said, ''In case, FIRs are not registered in time or steps are not taken by the police, the magistrate concerned would be justified in initiating contempt proceedings against such delinquent officers and punish them for violation of its orders and award stringent punishment like sentence of imprisonment against them.''
''Disciplinary authority would be quite justified in initiating departmental proceedings and suspending them in contemplation of the same,'' the Bench also comprising Justice G S Singhvi had directed while dealing with a habeas corpus petition filed by Bhola Kamat whose minor daughter was abducted in an alleged land dispute.
Kamat filed a complaint with the police who allegedly threatened him to withdraw it and reach a compromise with the accused.
While terming it a ''pathetic state of affairs'', the judges allowed two more weeks as ''the last chance'' to chief secretaries/DGPs and police commissioners to file their response. It, however, warned that if they failed to respond, it would direct their personal attendance at the next hearing.
