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Hamant Yashwant Dhage v. State of Maharashtra and Others

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 110 of 2016)Decided 10 Feb 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 110 of 2016
Justice M.Y. Eqbal · Justice Shiva Kirti Singh

Background

In an earlier round of litigation, the Supreme Court (order dated 12.04.2010) had disapproved of the Bombay High Court entertaining writ petitions for change of investigating officer and had instead directed the complainant (the present appellant) to approach the Magistrate under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. to ensure a proper investigation. The Magistrate, however, wrongly concluded that without an explicit direction from the Supreme Court, he could not order registration of an FIR, and the Bombay High Court (impugned order dated 13.02.2012) also declined to direct FIR registration, telling the complainant to seek clarification from the Supreme Court instead, bringing the matter back up on appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that its earlier 2010 order, properly read along with settled law (citing Mohd. Yousuf v. Afaq Jahan), implied that when a Magistrate directs investigation under Section 156(3), the police must register an FIR to enable that investigation: this is clear from the fact that Section 156 falls under the Code's chapter governing police powers to investigate cognizable offences. With both the State and the private respondents' counsel broadly agreeing, the Court directed the Magistrate and police to rectify their error by registering an appropriate FIR, clarified that the delay in registering it would not affect the investigation already carried out, and directed the police to complete investigation within six months, after which the Magistrate would deal with the matter strictly on the material on record. The appeal was allowed to this extent.

Lesson Learnt

When a court directs a Magistrate to ensure investigation under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., that direction inherently requires registration of an FIR: police and magistrates cannot refuse to register one merely because the court's order did not use that exact word.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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