I must say at this stage that the refusal
by criminal Courts either through the learned
Magistrate or through their office staff to
accept the charge-sheet without production of
the accused persons is not justified by any
provision of law. Therefore, it should be
impressed upon all the Courts that they
should accept the charge-sheet whenever it is
produced by the police with any endorsement
to be made on the charge-sheet by the staff
or the Magistrate pertaining to any omission
or requirement in the charge-sheet. But when
the police submit the charge-sheet, it is the
duty of the Court to accept it especially in
view of the provisions of Section 468 of the
Code which creates a limitation of taking
cognizance of offence. Likewise, police
authorities also should impress on all police
officers that if charge-sheet is not accepted
for any such reason, then attention of the
Sessions Judge should be drawn to these facts
and get suitable orders so that such
difficulties would not arise henceforth.”
We are in agreement with the aforesaid view
of the High Courts and would like to give our
imprimatur to the said judicial view. It has
rightly been observed on consideration of Section
170 of the Cr.P.C. that it does not impose an
obligation on the Officer-in-charge to arrest
each and every accused at the time of filing of
the chargesheet. We have, in fact, come across
cases where the accused has cooperated with the
investigation throughout and yet on the
chargesheet being filed non-bailable warrants
have been issued for his production premised on
the requirement that there is an obligation to
arrest the accused and produce him before the
court. We are of the view that if the
Investigating Officer does not believe that the
accused will abscond or disobey summons he/she is
not required to be produced in custody. The word
“custody” appearing in Section 170 of the Cr.P.C.
does not contemplate either police or judicial
custody but it merely connotes the presentation
of the accused by the Investigating Officer
before the court while filing the chargesheet.
We may note that personal liberty is an
important aspect of our constitutional mandate.
The occasion to arrest an accused during
investigation arises when custodial investigation
becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or
where there is a possibility of influencing the
witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because
an arrest can be made because it is lawful does
not mandate that arrest must be made. A
distinction must be made between the existence of
the power to arrest and the justification for
exercise of it.4 If arrest is made routine, it
can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and
self-esteem of a person. If the Investigating
Officer has no reason to believe that the accused
will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact,
throughout cooperated with the investigation we
fail to appreciate why there should be a
compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused.
We are, in fact, faced with a situation where
contrary to the observations in Joginder Kumar’s
case how a police officer has to deal with a
scenario of arrest, the trial courts are stated
to be insisting on the arrest of an accused as a
pre-requisite formality to take the chargesheet
on record in view of the provisions of Section
170 of the Cr.P.C. We consider such a course
misplaced and contrary to the very intent of
Section 170 of the Cr.P.C.{Para 8}
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.838 OF 2021
SIDDHARTH Vs THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR.
Dated: AUGUST 16, 2021.
Leave granted.
The short issue before us is whether the
anticipatory bail application of the appellant
ought to have been allowed. We may note that as
per the Order dated 02.8.2021 we had granted
interim protection.
The fact which emerges is that the appellant
along with 83 other private persons were sought to
be roped in a FIR which was registered seven years
ago. The appellant claims to be supplier of stone
for which royalty was paid in advance to these
holders and claims not to be involved in the
tendering process. Similar person was stated to
have been granted interim protection until filing
of the police report. The appellant had already
joined the investigation before approaching this
Court and the chargesheet was stated to be ready
to be filed. However, the reason to approach this
Court was on account of arrest memo having been
issued.
It is not disputed before us by learned
counsel for the respondent that the chargesheet is
ready to be filed but submits that the trial court
takes a view that unless the person is taken into
custody the chargesheet will not be taken on
record in view of Section 170 of the Cr.P.C.
In order to appreciate the controversy we
reproduce the provision of Section 170 of Cr.P.C.
as under:
“170. Cases to be sent to Magistrate, when
evidence is sufficient. – (1) If, upon an
investigation under this Chapter, it appears
to the officer in charge of the police
station that there is sufficient evidence or
reasonable ground as aforesaid, such officer
shall forward the accused under custody to a
Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of
the offence upon a police report and to try
the accused or commit him for trial, or, if
the offence is bailable and the accused is
able to give security, shall take security
from him for his appearance before such
Magistrate on a day fixed and for his
attendance from day to day before such
Magistrate until otherwise directed.”
There are judicial precedents available on
the interpretation of the aforesaid provision
albeit the Delhi High Court.
In Court on its own motion v. Central Bureau
of Investigation1, the Delhi High Court dealt with
an argument similar to the contention of the
respondent that Section 170 Cr.P.C. prevents the
trial court from taking a chargesheet on record
unless the accused is taken into custody. The
relevant extracts are as under:
“15. Word “custody” appearing in this Section
does not contemplate either police or
judicial custody. It merely connotes the
presentation of accused by the Investigating
Officer before the Court at the time of
filing of the chargesheet whereafter the role
of the Court starts. Had it not been so the
Investigating Officer would not have been
vested with powers to release a person on
bail in a bailable offence after finding that
there was sufficient evidence to put the
accused on trial and it would have been
obligatory upon him to produce such an
accused in custody before the Magistrate for
being released on bail by the Court.
1 2004 (72) DRJ 629
16. In case the police/Investigating Officer
thinks it unnecessary to present the accused
in custody for the reason that accused would
neither abscond nor would disobey the summons
as he has been co-operating in investigation
and investigation can be completed without
arresting him, the IO is not obliged to
produce such an accused in custody.
[…]
19. It appears that the learned Special Judge
was labouring under a misconception that in
every non-bailable and cognizable offence the
police is required to invariably arrest a
person, even if it is not essential for the
purpose of investigation.
20. Rather the law is otherwise. In normal
and ordinary course the police should always
avoid arresting a person and sending him to
jail, if it is possible for the police to
complete the investigation without his arrest
and if every kind of co-operation is provided
by the accused to the Investigating Officer
in completing the investigation. It is only
in cases of utmost necessity, where the
investigation cannot be completed without
arresting the person, for instance, a person
may be required for recovery of incriminating
articles or weapon of offence or for
eliciting some information or clue as to his
accomplices or any circumstantial evidence,
that his arrest may be necessary. Such an
arrest may also be necessary if the concerned
Investigating Officer or Officer-in-charge of
the Police Station thinks that presence of
accused will be difficult to procure because
of grave and serious nature of crime as the
possibility of his absconding or disobeying
the process or fleeing from justice cannot be
ruled out.”
In a subsequent judgment the Division Bench
of the Delhi High Court in Court on its own Motion
v. State2 relied on these observations in Re Court
on its own Motion (supra) and observed that it is
not essential in every case involving a cognizable
and non-bailable offence that an accused be taken
into custody when the chargesheet/final report is
filed.
The Delhi High Court is not alone in having
adopted this view and other High Courts apparently
have also followed suit on the proposition that
criminal courts cannot refuse to accept a
chargesheet simply because the accused has not
been arrested and produced before the court.
In Deendayal Kishanchand & Ors. v. State of
Gujarat3, the High Court observed as under:
“2.…It was the case of the prosecution that
two accused, i. e. present petitioners Nos. 4
and 5, who are ladies, were not available to
be produced before the Court along with the
charge-sheet, even though earlier they were
released on bail. Therefore, as the Court
refused to accept the charge-sheet unless all
the accused are produced, the charge-sheet
could not be submitted, and ultimately also,
by a specific letter, it seems from the
record, the charge-sheet was submitted
2 (2018) 254 DLT 641 (DB)
3 1983 Crl.LJ 1583
without accused Nos. 4 and 5. This is very
clear from the evidence on record. […]
… … … … … …
8. I must say at this stage that the refusal
by criminal Courts either through the learned
Magistrate or through their office staff to
accept the charge-sheet without production of
the accused persons is not justified by any
provision of law. Therefore, it should be
impressed upon all the Courts that they
should accept the charge-sheet whenever it is
produced by the police with any endorsement
to be made on the charge-sheet by the staff
or the Magistrate pertaining to any omission
or requirement in the charge-sheet. But when
the police submit the charge-sheet, it is the
duty of the Court to accept it especially in
view of the provisions of Section 468 of the
Code which creates a limitation of taking
cognizance of offence. Likewise, police
authorities also should impress on all police
officers that if charge-sheet is not accepted
for any such reason, then attention of the
Sessions Judge should be drawn to these facts
and get suitable orders so that such
difficulties would not arise henceforth.”
We are in agreement with the aforesaid view
of the High Courts and would like to give our
imprimatur to the said judicial view. It has
rightly been observed on consideration of Section
170 of the Cr.P.C. that it does not impose an
obligation on the Officer-in-charge to arrest
each and every accused at the time of filing of
the chargesheet. We have, in fact, come across
cases where the accused has cooperated with the
investigation throughout and yet on the
chargesheet being filed non-bailable warrants
have been issued for his production premised on
the requirement that there is an obligation to
arrest the accused and produce him before the
court. We are of the view that if the
Investigating Officer does not believe that the
accused will abscond or disobey summons he/she is
not required to be produced in custody. The word
“custody” appearing in Section 170 of the Cr.P.C.
does not contemplate either police or judicial
custody but it merely connotes the presentation
of the accused by the Investigating Officer
before the court while filing the chargesheet.
We may note that personal liberty is an
important aspect of our constitutional mandate.
The occasion to arrest an accused during
investigation arises when custodial investigation
becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or
where there is a possibility of influencing the
witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because
an arrest can be made because it is lawful does
not mandate that arrest must be made. A
distinction must be made between the existence of
the power to arrest and the justification for
exercise of it.4 If arrest is made routine, it
can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and
self-esteem of a person. If the Investigating
Officer has no reason to believe that the accused
will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact,
throughout cooperated with the investigation we
fail to appreciate why there should be a
compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused.
We are, in fact, faced with a situation where
contrary to the observations in Joginder Kumar’s
case how a police officer has to deal with a
scenario of arrest, the trial courts are stated
to be insisting on the arrest of an accused as a
pre-requisite formality to take the chargesheet
on record in view of the provisions of Section
170 of the Cr.P.C. We consider such a course
misplaced and contrary to the very intent of
Section 170 of the Cr.P.C.
In the present case when the appellant has
joined the investigation, investigation has
completed and he has been roped in after seven
4 Joginder Kumar v. State of UP & Ors. (1994) 4 SCC 260
years of registration of the FIR we can think of
no reason why at this stage he must be arrested
before the chargesheet is taken on record. We
may note that learned counsel for the appellant
has already stated before us that on summons
being issued the appellant will put the
appearance before the trial court.
We accordingly set aside the impugned order
and allow the appeal in terms aforesaid leaving
the parties to bear their own costs.
....................J.
[SANJAY KISHAN KAUL]
...................J.
[HRISHIKESH ROY]
NEW DELHI;
AUGUST 16, 2021.
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