Court Can't Order, Monitor Inquiry Against Cops For Delay In Investigation After Deciding Bail Plea: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that once a trial court disposes of a bail application, it becomes functus officio and cannot continue to monitor the matter by directing departmental inquiries or passing adverse remarks against police officials over alleged delay in investigation.Justice Saurabh Banerjee made the observation while allowing petitions filed by a police inspector and another police official challenging directions issued by an Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) in a POCSO case.The case arose from an FIR registered in 2019 concerning offences under the IPC and the POCSO Act after a minor girl went missing. During proceedings in an anticipatory bail application filed by a co-accused, the ASJ had sought status reports regarding delay in investigation and subsequently directed departmental inquiries against several police officials, including former SHOs and investigating officers.The petitioners argued that after disposal of the anticipatory bail plea, the ASJ had become functus officio and could not continue monitoring the investigation or disciplinary proceedings. They also contended that adverse remarks were passed without affording them an opportunity of hearing, violating principles of natural justice.Accepting the contention, the High Court observed that the jurisdiction of a court while deciding a bail application is limited to grant or refusal of bail and cannot extend to supervising disciplinary proceedings against police officials.It observed,“once the proceedings before the learned ASJ stood concluded/ closed, there was nothing surviving/ alive and/ or pending before him for whatever reason(s). As such, for all purposes, the learned ASJ was 'functus officio' after disposing of the application for grant of anticipatory bail.”Therefore, it added, “directing departmental enquiry and following up the same alongwith passing adverse remarks against the incumbents, and that too without issuing any notice(s) upon the petitioner(s) calling for any response from their side(s) was completely unwarranted and impermissible.”Reliance was placed on State v. M. Murugesan (2020) where the Supreme Court held that while courts may express concern regarding lapses in investigation, they cannot travel beyond the scope of bail jurisdiction under the guise of improving the criminal justice system.The High Court also referred to State of West Bengal v. Mir Mohammad Omar (2006) where the Supreme Court held that function of the criminal courts should not be wasted in picking out the lapses in investigation and by expressing unsavoury criticism against investigating officers.As such, the Court set aside the ASJ's order and all consequential proceedings, while expunging adverse remarks made against the police officials.Noting that similar orders are repeatedly being passed by trial courts, the High Court directed that a copy of the judgment be circulated to all district judges.Appearance: Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Adv. and Mr. Gautam Narayan, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Sukrit Seth, Mr. Sreedhar K., Ms. Radhika and Ms. Ananya Sharma, Advocates Mr. Ranbir Singh K., Mr. Ayush Bhattal and Mr. Chaitanya Singh, Advs. for Petitioner; Mr. Satish Kumar, APP with Ms. Upasna Bakshi, Mr. Aditya Vikram Singh and Mr. Dinesh Kr., Advocates with SI Chetan Panwar, PS: Chhawla Mr. Sanjeev Bhandari, ASC with Mr. Arjit Sharma, and Ms. Sakshi Jha, Advs for RespondentCase title: Aishvir Singh (Inspector) v. StateCase no.: CRL.M.C. 5769/2022Click here to read order

Court Can't Order, Monitor Inquiry Against Cops For Delay In Investigation After Deciding Bail Plea: Delhi High Court

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Court Can't Order, Monitor Inquiry Against Cops For Delay In Investigation After Deciding Bail Plea: Delhi High Court

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