SRINAGAR: The High Court nullified trial court orders directing re-investigation of an FIR, which had been dropped after police submitted a closure report accepted by the trial court.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar granted the petition by the accused in the FIR, setting aside the orders for re-investigation by the District Judge and Chief Magistrate. The court deemed any further police investigation as illegal and non-existent in the eyes of the law. It allowed the aggrieved person to file a fresh complaint if desired.
After discussing the issue of re-investigation, the court concluded that there’s no obligation on the Magistrate to notify the victim or close relatives of the deceased unless they’re the original informants.
Referring to Section 173(2) of CrPC, the court emphasized the right of the informant to be informed of police actions on their report. The court clarified that a protest petition lodged by the complainant should be considered by the Magistrate before deciding on the closure report submitted by the police.
If the Magistrate accepts the protest petition, they would proceed based on the police report and not under Section 200/201 CrPC.
The court noted that the protest petition in this case was filed after the Magistrate had accepted the closure report, but the Magistrate could have treated it as a complaint if it met the requirements.
The Revisional Court upheld the Magistrate’s decision, advising the aggrieved father to press his protest petition before the Magistrate.
