Taking into account the fact that no First Information Report was registered against a woman from Pudukkottai district who apprehended arrest by the police, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday dismissed her petition seeking anticipatory bail.
While the State submitted that no FIR was registered against P. Vasantha, the counsel for the petitioner sought the issue of notice under Section 41(A) CrPC (notice issued by police) in the event of registering any case against her, so that she can file an advance bail petition.
Justice S.M. Subramaniam observed that the idea of getting such an order is that in case an FIR is filed by the jurisdictional police, then a breathing time should be given to the accused for filing anticipatory bail petitions. Section 438 CrPC (anticipatory bail) is unambiguous. A case must be registered for the purpose of considering an anticipatory bail petition. Section 41(A) CrPC is clear that if arrest was not required, then only notice is to be issued by the police officer seeking explanation.
“This court is of the considered opinion that the required amount of freedom is essential to exercise the powers by the police authorities to control the crime and maintain law and order in the interest of the public at large,” the judge said.
In the event of directing the police authorities to issue notice under Section 41(A) CrPC in all cases without considering the facts and circumstances, there is a possibility of erroneous implementation of the orders by the police or the likelihood of the accused to abscond.
“It is a world of electronic advancement. Criminals are acting intelligently and they are one step ahead of a technological advancement. Thus, on registration of cases, police officers must make a decision whether an arrest is necessary or not,” the judge said.
Section 41(A) CrPC was inserted in order to preserve personal liberty of persons and to prevent misuse and abuse of power by police officers. Therefore, it has to be exercised only when arrest of persons was not required and certainly not in every case.
It is needless to state that when no case is registered against the petitioner, the question of issuing any direction would not rise at all. The concept of granting a relief even before the registration of a case was not preferable, the judge said and dismissed the petition.
