Police has a Sanctified Legal and Social Obligation to ferret out the truth and bring the Culprit to the book: SC [Read Judgment]

Expressing its disappointment over the “shoddy, casual, laconical and insensitive” investigation conducted by the police in a case wherein the accused was ultimately acquitted by the Supreme Court of all charges in an appeal preferred against the concurrent findings of guilt entered against him by the courts below, the Supreme Court has in a judgment rendered today sought to remind the investigating agencies of their responsibility of securing the safety and security of the citizens and in the process, act as the protector of human rights.The Apex Court emphasized that as a criminal offence is a crime against the society, the investigating agency has a sanctified, legal and social obligation to exhaust all its resources, experience and expertise to ferret out the truth and bring the culprit to book.“The police force with the power and resources at its disposal is a pivotal cog in the constitutional wheel of the democratic polity to guarantee the sustenance of an orderly society. It is usually the first refuge of one in distress and violated in his legal rights to seek redress. The police force, thus is bestowed with a sacrosanct duty and is undisputedly required to be impartial, committed and relentless in their operations to unravel the truth and in the case of a crime committed, make the offender subject to the process of law. The investigating agency, thus in the case of a probe into any offence has to maintain a delicate balance of the competing rights of the offenders and the victim as constitutionally ordained but by no means can be casual, incautious, indiscreet in its approach and application. A devoted and resolved intervention of the police force is thus an assurance against increasingly pernicious trend of escalating crimes and outrages of law in the current actuality,” said a bench comprising of Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice Amitava Roy.The Bench was considering a case where the mysterious disappearance of the wife from the company of her husband, in the train in which they were traveling on their way back home led to the appellant, the husband, being arraigned, convicted under Sections 304B, 201, 498A of the Indian Penal Code (for short, hereinafter to be referred to as 'IPC') and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for varying terms for the offences involved.The husband was in appeal before the Supreme Court against the judgment of the Patna High Court which had affirmed the conviction and sentence awarded to him by the trial Court.The appellant and his wife-Rani Archana Sinha, got married on 29.04.2007 in accordance with the hindu rites. Thereafter they planned their honeymoon trip to Darjeeling and proceeded thereto, by Capital Express on 10.08.2007. They alighted at New Jalpaiguri Station, and after visiting the places of their interest, as scheduled, they on 14.08.2007 boarded the same service for the return journey at 3 PM. As per the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the appellant with the Mokamah G.R.P.S. on 15.08.2007, the couple had dinner at Katihar Junction at 8PM whereafter they retired for the night in their respective berths No. 33 (appellant) and No. 35 (Archana) in coach S–1 of sleeper class approximately at 9 PM. As per the version of the appellant, he woke up at 5:10 AM on 15.08.2007 at Bakhtiarpur Station, to find that his wife was missing from her berth whereafter, he started searching for her on the running train. According to him, when the train reached Patna Junction, he looked for her in the other trains also thereat. His plea was that on being enquired, the passengers in his coach did affirm that the lady was available in the train upto 0400-0430 hours. It was the appellant’s assertion that situated thus, he reported the matter first with the GRP, Patna and eventually lodged the First Information Report with Mokamah G.R.P.S. This information was registered, as FIR No. 26/2007 dated 15.08.2007 under Section 365 IPC between 0400 PM to 0500 PM.While the matter rested at that, on 18.08.2007 at 1430 hours, an information was laid by one Jagdish Chander Sharma resident of Village Daulatabad, P.S. Azam Nagar, District Katihar that on the same day at 1200 hours, he was informed by some children that a dead body was lying by the side of the railway track whereupon, he visited the spot and found the dead body of a female in a putrefied condition in a pit in a bush. According to him the body was lying prostate due to which the face was not visible. The informant opined that the death might have occurred due to fall from the train about four to five days back. He also described the wearing apparel of the dead body, to be “check green coloured salwar suite”. He mentioned about detached hairs from the head which were of black colour.An inquest of the dead body followed on 19.08.2007 at 10.10 PM and a report based thereon was prepared. The findings as recorded inter alia did disclose that nothing was clear with regard to the marks of assault of...

Police has a Sanctified Legal and Social Obligation to ferret out the truth and bring the Culprit to the book: SC [Read Judgment]

Ajith.S

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