Firstly, you have not clarified what type of offence this is. Different types of offences take different times to investigate. Some simple offences may be investigated within a few days, while some serious offences may require several months to complete the investigation. Cases where examination by scientific experts is required, or a large number of documents are to be examined, or a number of witnesses are to be examined, may take a long period for the investigation to get completed. An undetected case may also sometimes take unduly long period of time to get investigated, since detecting a case is sometimes a time-consuming process.
Please also keep in mind that barring some small offences, known as summons cases (where the punishment is for a maximum imprisonment for two years), where usually there is a time limit of completing the investigation within a period of six months under Section 167(5) of the Cr.P.C., for other offences there is, generally speaking, no time limit for completing the investigation. Of course, it goes without saying that all investigations are required to be completed expeditiously. A detailed investigation can give an arrested accused person to get “default” bail under Proviso to Section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C.
In any case, if you feel that the investigation in your case has been delayed unnecessarily due to the negligence, carelessness or deliberate inaction on the part of the investigating officer, you can go and meet the senior officers of police and request them to get the investigation expedited.
Unless the investigation has been badly delayed beyond all reasonable periods, it may not generally be possible to obtain any relief in this regard from the courts. In case of an inordinate delay in the investigation, if approaching the senior officers of the police does not help, you can approach the High Court under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. seeking directions to the police officer concerned to get the investigation expedited.
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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