Part XI - Journey of a case from FIR to Court Verdict - Police Functioning Demystified

The journey of a case from FIR to Court Verdict :

The FIR is the first stage of a criminal case. The format is as prescribed in Section 154 Cr.PC. It carries the following basic information – (1) FIR No. (2) The date and time of registration (3) Names of the accused. In case the names of the accused are not known, they may just be mentioned as “unknown persons”. (4) Sections of Law applied (5) Name and details of the complainant (6) The offense – clear, crisp, to the point, without any ambiguity.

All the details should be read out to the complainant in the language which the complainant understands. Thereafter a copy of the FIR is sent to the concerned Magistrate.

The case is assigned to an Investigating Officer (IO) by the Sr.PI (Senior Police Inspector) and the investigation begins from here. In case arrests or searches are to be carried out, the Police approaches the Court for Arrest or Search Warrants as the case may be. Witnesses are summoned and their statements taken. Panchnamas are made from the place of offence and also the places where search operations are carried out. Panchnamas are always prepared in the presence of atleast two independent Panchas (witnesses), or else it will not have evidentiary value in Court.

Case Diary: CD is a serially numbered document in which every fact or development of the case is recorded by the IO on a day to day basis from the beginning of the investigation till the completion of investigation. One CD is used to record developments of one particular day in one particular case, whether it happens to be the recording of statements of witnesses, seizure of any documents or articles, search operations, sending out notices, etc. This CD is a classified document and is not open to the public at any time. A case may have any number of Case Diaries depending on the number of days there were developments in the investigation of the case.

Statements made before a Police Officer is not admissible in Court. Statements of anyone (both accused and witnesses) will only help the Police to piece together the sequence of events and solve the case. It will also form part of the Charge-sheet. If the Police apprehends that any of them would turn hostile at the time of trial, at the beginning itself, they can arrange to record their statements in front of a Magistrate Under Section 164 of the Cr.PC. This will make the case stronger.

On the basis of the investigation and the Evidence gathered by the Investigating Officer, he files a charge-sheet in the Court. The names of the Accused and the Sections of Law applied in the FIR need not always be the same in the Charge-sheet. On the basis of the findings of the IO, he can add or delete names of Accused as well as the Sections of Law. The charge-sheet contains a summary of the details of the crime and collection of evidence of the crime against the accused, including statements of witnesses, recovery, arrest, etc. CD will not form a part of the charge-sheet. The charge-sheet does not show how the police carried out the investigation of the case. A copy of the charge-sheet is given to each of the Accused in the case.

After investigation, if the IO does not find sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify the role of the accused in the crime, a “Closure Report” under section 169 Cr.PC is filed in the Court.

After filing charge-sheets, the Court frames charges and the Trial begins.

Part XII deals briefly with the Trial stage.