Delhi Police commissioner pulls up officers over absence in courts
A circular issued by commissioner Sanjay Arora says that high court has observed that proxy officers are being sent to the court
Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora on Tuesday castigated senior police officers for not attending matters in the Delhi high court, saying that such a “lackadaisical conduct” by investigating officers (IOs) “acts as an impediment in expeditious disposal of listed cases”.
Arora was irked by observations of different benches of the high court — that IOs often do not attend proceedings to assist prosecutors, officers said. Not only did the CP issue a circular to this effect, but senior officers were also woken up to a stern message from Arora at 7am on Tuesday.
The circular issued by Arora said that different benches of the high court have observed that in place of IOs, proxy IOs who are not well-versed with the matter are sent before the court, resulting in the wastage of the court’s time, issuance of adverse orders and, at times, the summoning of senior officers.
“Such a lackadaisical conduct on part of the IOs not only portrays an unprofessional image of Delhi Police before the Court, but also acts as an impediment in expeditious disposal of listed cases,” the circular said.
Reiterating and reproducing an extract of the existing standing order number Licensing and Legal/06/2022, which laid down procedures to be followed regarding the pairvi of cases before the High Court, the circular said that in no case should an officer below the rank of upper subordinate be sent to the high court.
“Every station house officer (SHO), inspector (law and order) and inspector (investigation) should keep a record of matters pending in the High Court relating to the police station or official duties and they will personally check/verify the authenticity and contents of the reply, to be prepared in consultation with the standing counsel. The reply should be prepared well in advance and SHO/IO should not wait for the last day,” the circular said.
The circular further said that in bail matters, received only one day in advance, the officers concerned should ensure that the IO prepares the brief, attends the court on time, and in case the IO is on leave, the SHO, inspector (law and order) or inspector (investigation) should attend the court with the case file. “They should go through the file before going to the court. The officer attending the court should note down the next date of hearing and direction given by the court should be properly recorded in the ‘Pairvi Register’,” it said.
To avoid adverse comments of the high court in future, the circular categorically said that whenever it calls for the appearance of the IO of a particular case, the requirement is of the IO who prepared the police report under section 173 of the CrPC (charge-sheet or untrace or cancellation reports) which led to the beginning of judicial process.
“In several investigations, there are more than one IO, including the ab-initio IO, the successive IOs who investigated the case, charge-sheeting IO and even those IOs who filed supplementary charge-sheets. Where none of these IOs have been ‘specifically’ called by the High Court, the general rule to be followed shall be that the IO who had submitted the last police report, shall appear,” the circular said.
The circular further said that in case of the transfer of the IO concerned, the SHO or recipient of the court notice will intimate the current supervisory officer about it through a proper daily diary entry. “There are many instances where the concerned IO has retired, expired or is otherwise unavailable. In all such cases, it shall be obligatory upon the SHOs and inspectors (investigation to ensure that the assignee ‘IO-Pairvi officer’ gets adequately briefed about the matter so that he can, in turn, brief the additional solicitor general (ASG) and additional public prosecutor (APP) before the court proceedings,” the circular said.
Jitendra Kumar Jha, a Supreme Court lawyer, said the circular will not only speed up the judicial process, but will also save the image of Delhi Police. “The dilly-dallying approach of Delhi Police often gives the defence an edge. Since police officers come to the high court without any homework, judges often issue adverse remark on them... This circular will definitely break the chain of corruption that develops between the accused and IOs due to delayed judicial process,” he said.