Delhi court calls for sensitisation of cops, directs FIR over youth’s death in 2020

New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) A Delhi court has directed for the sensitisation of police officers on the registration of FIRs in cases involving loss of human life and directed the police to register an FIR into a youth's deathin 2020.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Mayank Goel was dealing with a case in which the youth died in November 2020.

The court underlined the "utter failure" of the system as the "culprit managed to walk free" by "entangling the victim" in the maze of procedural rules.

The court was hearing a plea for FIR by the father of the victim Vivek Kumar (23), an autorickshaw driver, who went missing, but later his mortal remains were discovered in a Delhi Jal Board sewer treatment plant situated in Kondli area on November 5, 2020.

The plea alleged that New Ashok Nagar police station officials did not register a case despite giving a complaint listing the name of a suspect with whom Vivek was last seen, and regardless of the CCTV footage of November 1, which showed the victim being thrashed by some people.

In an order on September 18, the court said, “The struggle for sensitivity towards offences against women, children and other marginalised groups passes through various phases of evolution." The order continued, "Whereas the end goal is most desirable, the journey is not always a pleasant one, and at times, the victims find themselves pitched against a system full of insensitive stakeholders, and at other times, the victims find themselves in conflict with the procedural intricacies of the laws.” Despite the importance of procedural sanctity, the court said, it was always a matter of "utter failure" for the system as a whole when culprits, accused of heinous offences such as murder managed to walk free “by entangling the victim in misapplication of procedural rules, without the knowledge of the victim and without any control of the victim".

The court found the present case to be one such illustration.

The police officials were found to have not registered an FIR to investigate the case, and instead, all the investigating officers (IOs) filed reports with a “pre-determined notion” that there was no foul play.

“A cognisable offence of murder has been committed, and the station house officer (SHO) concerned is hereby directed to register the FIR under relevant provisions of law and file a report,” the court held.

The court directed a copy of the order to be sent to the DCP concerned to sensitise all the assistant commissioners of police concerned and SHOs on the registration of FIR in cases of loss of human life.

The matter was posted for September 25. PTI MNR MNR AMK AMK