Times of India: Chandigarh: Monday, June 18, 2018.
Shoddy
investigation hindered the “smart” Chandigarh Police from proving a staggering
4,257 cases in the courts from January 2015 to May 2018 in which all the
accused were acquitted, a reply under the RTI Act has revealed.
The
department’s inefficiency did not end there. Police had sent only 201 out of
the total cases to a review committee and took action against just four
investigating officers during all these years for the lapses.
Information
sought by TOI under the RTI Act pointed out that 1,619 cases had fallen flat in
different courts in 2015. Out of them, police sent 181 cases to the review
committee and acted against just four investigating officers. At the same time,
police registered 5,194 FIRs under Indian Penal Code (IPC), Excise and Gambling
Act.
The next
year, police faced humiliation in more than 1,200 cases. Courts acquitted
accused in a total of 1,261 cases. Police department sent just 20 cases for
review, but took no action against any investigating officers. In 2017, police
failed to prove 1,056 cases in courts. Interestingly, the department did not
send a single case for review and no action or probe was initiated against the
investigating officers. On the other hand, 321 cases fell flat in courts this
year so far, and, no case was sent to the review committee or action taken
against any IO till date.
Legal experts
said poor investigation and patchy evidence were the common factors behind the
police failure. Sources said one officer was earlier deputed to record the
statements of witnesses in courts, but now nobody bothered to be present in the
court from police department at the time of recording of statements.
Ravinder
Pandit, a lawyer, said, “Investigation is improper in many cases and not
conducted as per norms. Witnesses too turn hostile as the IOs fail to handle
them.”
“Everybody
knows that DSP, SHO and other officers also involved in the cases and if the
investigating officer failed to prove the case in court, others are equally
responsible for the failure,” Pandit said.
Harish
Bhardwaj, another lawyer, said it has been seen in many cases that the accused
were acquitted because both parties reached a compromise and witnesses turned
hostile. “Investigation done in a hasty manner is another reason,” he said.
Calling it a
serious matter, former DSP Jagbir Singh said, “The standard and level of
investigation is dropping. There is a shortage of good investigating officers
in the police department. In many cases, head constableranked officers have
been appointed as IOs.” “Action against investigating officers is only based on
the verdict of court and if the reason behind the acquittal is lack of
evidence, the IO is responsible,” he said. Bhardwaj, however, felt that it was
not right to blame the IO for the case falling in court. “The IO cannot do
anything if parties reach a compromise or witnesses turn hostile in court,” he
said.
When TOI
contacted Eish Singhal, officiating UT SSP, he refused to comment and said he
would make a statement after “checking the facts”.
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