Nagpur: Quashing an FIR against a man whose wife had died by suicide, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court observed that no law precludes an investigation officer (IO) from going through the evidence provided by the accused and it was totally unacceptable for him not to go through the material provided to him.
“No doubt, the IO shall be given full freedom to carry the investigation in accordance with law.The material which is sought to be produced by the accused may or may not help the investigating agency, but it is totally unacceptable that he shall not look into the same. We do not see any provision of law which precludes the IO from going through the material if he finds it relevant and germane to arrive at the truth,” a division bench comprising justices Vinay Joshi and Mahendra Chandwani said.
While directing the IO to accept the documents submitted by the petitioners, the bench asked him to consider only those which are relevant and necessary for fair investigation. “It is left to the discretion and wisdom of the IO to rely or not on documents provided by the petitioners.”
The petitioners, including the man and his parents, were booked for the offences punishable under Sections 498-A, 306 read with Section 34 of IPC. After the man’s wife died by suicide, her father had lodged a complaint alleging that the petitioners meted out cruel treatment to her. The accused through senior counsel Sunil Manohar and Rajneesh Vyas approached HC for quashing the FIR with a prayer to direct the police to consider their documents during the investigation.
Emphasizing that the essence of criminal justice system is to reach to the truth, the justices said the underlying principle of criminal jurisprudence is that the accused is presumed to be innocent till he is proven guilty.
“Fair, impartial and transparent criminal investigation is must for ensuring fair trial for the accused. The investigating officer is under an obligation to carry out fair investigation with a sole motive to reach the truth,” they said while allowing the petitioners’ application.
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