IG issues guidelines to police officers

Review meeting held to discuss effective investigation of cases

December 26, 2014 09:55 am | Updated 09:55 am IST - PUDUCHERRY:

IG Praveer Ranjan addresses the media in Puducherry. Photo: S.S. Kumar

IG Praveer Ranjan addresses the media in Puducherry. Photo: S.S. Kumar

Aiming at improving the quality of prosecution and trial in the court, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Praveer Ranjan has sent circulars to all police officers to follow guidelines strictly.

Recently a review meeting was conducted by Chief Secretary Chetan B. Sanghi to discuss effective investigation / prosecution of cases. At the said meeting, several suggestions were mooted by the Directorate of Prosecution to improve the quality of prosecution and trial in the courts.

Following the meeting, the Inspector General of Police has issued detailed guidelines to police officers.

Mr. Ranjan said a mechanism was evolved to consult the prosecutor right form the time of registration of First Information Report (FIR) to the filing of charge sheets.

This would help in removing legal lacunae which results in ineffective prosecution/ acquittal in the trial courts.

As per the guidelines, investigating officer/ station house officer should regularly consult the prosecutor in the matters of filing bail objection petitions, seeking police remand of the accused and appreciating the evidence at the time of filing charge sheets in the courts. The investigating officers should also continue to remain in touch with the prosecutors at the time of trial.

The IG also said the case files should be handed over to the prosecuting officers earlier to the date of trial so that the prosecutors can go through the case files and appreciate the evidence before conducting prosecution.

The guideline said it should be the responsibility of investigating officer to ensure the presence of witnesses and their proper briefing by the prosecutors before their examination in the courts. The bail objection should be drafted in consultation with prosecutors and the ground for opposing the bail should be briefed to the prosecutors.

Similarly, while seeking the remand of the accused, the prosecutors should be taken into confidence and properly briefed so that effective hearing can be ensured. The SHOs of every police station should depute experiences head constable/ head constables for the court duty and they may be instructed to take note of day-to-day proceedings of the court and also brief the SHO in the form of court diary.

Periodical review meeting should be conducted to review all pending trial cases in the presence of the officers of Directorate of Prosecution. Monthly meetings shall be conducted by Senior Superintendent (Law and Order) along with SPs of various regions and the prosecutors to discuss the issues pertaining to the prosecution branch.

The Inspector General of Police also said, “Regular refresher courses will be organised by the Superintendent of Police/ Training for the Investigating officers to improve the quality of investigation/prosecution and the Director of Prosecutor shall be requested to depute senior prosecutors to brief the investigating officers on various legal issues.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.