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Pramod Kumar & Ors. v. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 120Decided 4 Feb 2026
Crl.A. No.-000687-000687 - 2026 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 350 of 2024)
Justice Rajesh Bindal · Justice Vijay Bishnoi

Background

An FIR was registered in 2013 against the appellants for offences including gang rape (Section 376D IPC) and criminal intimidation, following which the investigation was transferred between police units on the complainant's request. The Investigating Officer submitted a closure report in 2014 finding no offence made out, citing contradictions in the complainant's statements; the complainant did not contest this before the Magistrate, and the closure report was accepted. Years later, without any court order or leave of the Magistrate, a state government communication and a police order directed "further investigation" under Section 173(8) CrPC into the same FIR, which the appellants challenged before the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench); the High Court dismissed their writ petition, prompting this appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The central question was whether police can order further investigation under Section 173(8) CrPC after a closure report has been accepted by the court, without first obtaining the Magistrate's leave. The Supreme Court held that once a closure report is accepted and no protest petition is filed, the police/investigating agency cannot unilaterally direct further investigation on its own authority: such a direction, especially one issued at the administrative level (by a Secretary or Superintendent of Police) rather than judicially, exceeds the agency's jurisdiction and undermines the court's authority. Distinguishing the precedent relied on by the State (Dharam Pal), where the earlier case involved a court-ordered transfer of investigation to the CBI, the Court found no comparable judicial sanction here and held the impugned administrative directions could not stand. Accordingly, the High Court's judgment and the underlying communication/order directing further investigation were quashed, and the appeal was allowed, without prejudice to any pending criminal revision relating to the same FIR.

Lesson Learnt

Once a police closure report on an FIR is accepted by a court and unchallenged, the police cannot on their own administrative initiative reopen "further investigation" into the same case: that step requires the sanction of the Magistrate or a court, not just an internal government order.

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

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