SC pulls up IO for closure report during pendency of appeal against its quashing
A bench of justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar said when criminal proceedings are quashed, there cannot be any closure report
The Supreme Court has pulled up an investigating officer (IO) of the Uttarakhand Police for preparing a closure report of a criminal case even as an appeal against a high court order quashing it remained pending.
A bench of justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar said when criminal proceedings are quashed, there cannot be any closure report. “...preparing or filing of closure report in cases which are quashed is unknown to the Code of Criminal Procedure,” it said. “We are surprised and shocked that when criminal proceedings/FIR [First Information Report] were quashed by the high court and it is challenged by the state in appeal, thereafter how can there be a closure report.”
The case was filed against journalist Umesh Kumar Sharma after he levelled corruption charges against former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
In October 2020, the high court quashed the case and directed the registration of an FIR against Rawat. The Supreme Court set aside this part of the order as it was issued without hearing Rawat.
The Supreme Court last month noticed the closure report was filed while hearing the Uttarakhand government’s appeal against quashing the FIR against Sharma. It asked the investigating officer to submit an explanation.
The officer apologised for the mistake and clarified it was merely drafted and kept in a file that was inadvertently submitted without consulting him.
The bench said in the event of the quashing of FIR, there cannot be a closure report. It directed a copy of its order to be circulated to all police stations in Uttarakhand to prevent a repeat of such instances.
Additional solicitor general Balbir Singh, who appeared for the state government, said the mistake cannot be justified. He added this cannot be a valid closure report and should be ignored.