Agartala: The Tripura High Court has directed the secretary of the state home department to convene a meeting with top police officers – district Superintendents, Inspector General (Law and Order) and Director General – to formulate an advisory as a follow-up of the Supreme Court’s order with regard to registration of FIRs.
Hearing a writ petition filed by one Subhas Pal, resident of Udaipur in Gomati district, who was injured in an alleged attack by miscreants on March 1, Justice Subhasish Talapatra directed the state government last week to ensure that no FIR was rejected by the police any more.
The petitioner Pal complained that some miscreants attacked him and damaged his rubber estate in Sepahijala district. Immediately, he rushed to the Madhupur police station to lodge an FIR, but the police refused to register the case and failed to supply the receipt of the FIR to the petitioner.
According to the petitioner, there was no progress in the investigation into the attack; rather the criminals continued to move freely, triggering panic in the locality and a message got around that the police wouldn’t do anything to the rowdies. Finally, the victim moved the high court seeking an investigation into the incident and booking the accused under appropriate law.
In response to the petition, the high court had directed the secretary of the state home department to formulate an advisory and ensure that it is implemented in all police stations. Further, he was asked to issue such an advisory within a period of six weeks to the police mandating them to accept the complaint, investigate it and bring the matter to the justice delivery system.
The petitioner’s advocate Purushottam Roy Barman alleged, “In a series of cases since 2015, the HC has been observing, keeping high hopes that the superior authorities of the police would heed and take a correctional course despite repeated directions from Supreme Court. Unfortunately this has not happened so far.”
He told the media that after the writ petition was filed, the police registered an FIR and launched an investigation but the complainant was neither informed about the progress of the case nor supplied the receipt of the FIR. The court, however, directed the Officer-in-charge of Madhupur Police Station to supply a copy of FIR to the victim without any cost.
