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A bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Ranjitsinh Bhosle, in an order passed last week, said the police have been conducting preliminary investigations into the complaints for several months, while it is mandatory as per law to complete it within a period of 14 days.
The court was hearing a plea filed by one Kundan Patil through his lawyer Uday Warunjikar, seeking direction to the police to register an FIR on his complaint submitted to the Kashimira police station in Mira Road near Mumbai in October.
Kashimira police told the court in their affidavit that investigation into the complaint is still going on.
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According to the police, a complaint was filed against the petitioner in August and investigation on that complaint was also going on.
The bench referred to Section 173(3)(i) of the Indian Civil Defense Code (BNSS), which empowers the police to conduct a preliminary investigation within a period of 14 days to ascertain whether a prima facie case exists to proceed further in the case.
The HC said the police conduct such inquiries for months under the guise of preliminary investigation, although the law mandates that it should be conducted within a period of 14 days.
The bench said the police were “completely disregarding” the orders of law.
“We regularly come across cases in which policemen are carrying out preliminary interrogation in a leisurely manner, according to their whims and fancies,” the HC said.
The bench said that either the police are not aware of the fact that the Government of India has implemented BNSS in July 2024 or they are deliberately not following the mandatory provisions of the law, which is known only to them.
“We consider it appropriate to seek the view of the Home Department of the Government of India as to whether the provisions of the BNSS are applicable to all police stations and if so, why the same has not been strictly and scrupulously followed,” the court ordered.
Fixing the next hearing of the case on December 19, the bench directed the Additional Solicitor General to appear in the court on behalf of the central government.