This issue has recently been decided by a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the case of Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P., (2014) 2 SCC 1 : 2014 Cri LJ 470 : AIR 2014 SC 187.
In this case, the Supreme Court has held that the registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation. It was held that, however, if the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not. The scope of preliminary inquiry is not to verify the veracity or otherwise of the information received but only to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable offence. As to what type and in which cases preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. It was held that the category of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under:
(a) Matrimonial disputes/family disputes
(b) Commercial offences
(c) Medical negligence cases
(d) Corruption cases
(e) Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months’ delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for delay.
The Supreme Court held that the aforesaid are only illustrations and not exhaustive of all conditions which may warrant preliminary inquiry.
In the above judgment, the Supreme Court held that a preliminary inquiry should be made time-bound and in any case it should not exceed 7 days. However, subsequently, in a Misc. Petition filed in the same case [CRL.M.P. NO. 5029 OF 2014 IN WRIT PETITION (CRL.) NO.68 OF 2008], by an order dated 5 March 2014, the same Constitution bench of the Supreme Court modified the time period of completion of the preliminary inquiry as under:
“While ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a preliminary inquiry should be made time bound and in any case it should not exceed fifteen days generally and in exceptional cases, by giving adequate reasons, six weeks time is provided. The fact of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in the General Diary entry.”
Therefore, as per this modified order, now the preliminary inquiry, if any, is required to be completely normally in 15 days, but in exceptional cases, by giving adequate reasons to be recorded in the General Diary of the police station, it may be completed in 6 weeks.
[Disclosure: It may be pointed out that I had argued before the Supreme Court in this case as an advocate, and had played a substantial role in the final outcome of the case.]
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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