Attempt To Settle Dispute Cannot Prevent Police From Taking Cognizance Of Crime : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has observed that an attempt by the police to reconcile a dispute between the clashing groups would not bar them from registering an FIR for criminal acts.

“The mere attempt at reconciliation cannot prevent the police from taking cognizance of criminal acts.”, observed a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran.

The case arose out of a dispute between two groups in a locality in Punjab. The appellants belonged to a Scheduled Caste community, while the respondents were from an upper-caste group. The conflict reportedly began over allegations that drainage water was being diverted into the houses of the Appellants.

When tensions escalated, police reached the spot and attempted to mediate the dispute. However, the situation allegedly turned violent during the reconciliation attempts. According to the prosecution, shots were fired and caste-based abuses were directed at members of the Scheduled Caste community.

An FIR was subsequently registered on the First Information Statement of a police official who had witnessed the incident.

The Punjab & Haryana High Court had granted an anticipatory bail to the Respondents merely because the FIR was registered based on the police's statements, and not by the victims themselves, prompting the members of the Scheduled Tribes to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Setting aside the impugned decision, the bench rejected the High Court's reliance on the source of information for registering the FIR, observing that an FIR can validly be lodged on the basis of a police officer's statement who witnessed the offence, irrespective of the fact that the dispute between the groups was undergoing reconciliation.

The Court said that the police has discretionary power to register an FIR after getting to know the commission of a cognizable offence, and this power cannot be curtailed merely because reconciliation attempts between the groups have been undergone.

“Even the police admit that there was tension prevailing in the locality which led to criminal acts being perpetrated.”, the court noted, stressing that the police were duty-bound to act when criminal offences occur, regardless of whether they were simultaneously attempting to mediate the dispute.

In a nutshell, the Court said that a reconciliation or mediation efforts cannot override the statutory duty of the police to enforce criminal law.

Accordingly, the appeal was allowed, the FIR was held valid, and the anticipatory bail granted to the Respondents was cancelled owning to the fact that a prima facie case under the SC/ST Act was made out against them.

Also From Order: 'FIR Can't Be Doubted Merely Because It Is Based On Police Statement', Supreme Court Cancels Anticipatory Bail In SC/ST Case

Cause Title: Kuldeep Singh and Anr. Versus State of Punjab and Anr. (with connected appeal)

Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 239

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