Mumbai: Bombay high court has directed police that whenever they call a person to participate in a preliminary inquiry, whether prior to filing of FIR or otherwise, they must furnish a copy of the complaint, along with the notice.“We have noticed continuous lapses in a series of matters, when notices are issued… without supplying copies of the complaint… Such practice of non-supplying a copy of the complaint in our considered view cannot continue in a system governed by the rule of law,” said Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Hiten Venegavkar on April 15. The bench was “constrained” to issue directions while hearing a petition by Ajay Agarwal, director of Vibrant Construction Pvt Ltd, to direct Charkop police to supply a copy of the complaint against the company. Prosecutor S V Gavand said a notice was issued to Agarwal but he never turned up for the inquiry. A copy of the complaint was given to Agarwal’s advocate, Vishal Kolekar, in court. Kolekar said Agarwal would now respond to the complaint and cooperate with the preliminary inquiry. The judges said notices are frequently issued by police to persons, calling them to be present for an inquiry without furnishing a copy of the complaint or even disclosing the substance, contents or gist of the allegations. Citing Supreme Court judgments, they said such a practice “violates” Article 20 (3) (no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself) and is “contrary to the principles of natural justice”. The judges said in cases where it is not feasible to furnish a complaint copy, the notice shall mandatorily contain a separate sheet giving a “clear and sufficient gist” of the allegations. Any deviation shall only be in “rare and peculiar circumstances where disclosure would seriously prejudice the ongoing investigation or endanger the safety of the complainant or witnesses”. In such cases, the reasons for not disclosing the details “shall be recorded in writing by the officer concerned”, the judges said. They directed the DGP to circulate the order to all police commissioners and superintendents forthwith and “ensure its due implementation”.
