The duty of the Police to register F.I.R. upon direction from the Magistrate under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. and the inherent power of the High Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to issue directions to implement orders passed under the Code.

Petitioner came forward under Section 482 Cr.P.C., for a direction to the respondent, namely, the Inspector of Police, S.S. Colony Police Station, Madurai City, to take further action in pursuance of the orders of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Additional Mahila Court, Madurai, passed in Cr.M.P.No.1696 of 2016, under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C.

2. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, no action as per law in pursuance of the orders passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate, under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., has been taken by the Inspector of Police, S.S. Colony Police Station, Madurai.

3. The learned Government Advocate (Criminal Side) submits that the matter has been enquired into and it has been closed.

4. I have anxiously considered the rival submissions and perused the materials on record.

5. Petitioner gave his daughter Sujatha in marriage to one Krishnakumar. In an unfortunate event, Sujatha has lost her life. Her father Natarajan suspected foul play in her death. He suspected his son-in-law. In the circumstances, he filed a complaint before the Magistrate.

6. The matter has been taken up in Cr.M.P.No.1696 of 2016 and on 02.06.2016 the learned Additional Magistrate, Mahila Court, Madurai, passed the following order:

“Complainant present, on perusal of complaint and other materials it discloses cognizable offence. Hence, the Inspector of Police, S.S. Colony, to register the F.I.R., in this case within 30.06.2016.”

7. When a complaint containing allegations of commission of cognizable offence is presented to a Station House Officer, F.I.R., has to be registered under Section 154 Cr.P.C. When the Police Officer failed to do so, the complainant can complain to the Superintendent of Police under Section 154(3) Cr.P.C., the Superintendent of Police can direct the Subordinates Police Officer to register the case and investigate.

8. Instead of so complaining to the Superintendent of Police, the complainant can also present a complaint, under Section 200 Cr.P.C., before a Magistrate. Under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., the Magistrate has got power to direct the concerned Police to investigate the matter, if the complaint disclose commission of a cognizable offence. Thus, under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., the learned Magistrate cannot mechanically direct the Police to take up investigation.

9. It is pertinent to note that while passing orders under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., the learned Magistrate has power analogues to that of the Superintendent of Police in Section 154(3) Cr.P.C. One is Police/administrative power. The other one is judicial power.

10. As per Section 2(h) Cr.P.C., 'Investigation' refers to every steps taken by a Police Officer to 'collect evidence'. It may be oral, documentary, medical and expert evidence (See Section 156 and 157 Cr.P.C.). In a cognizable case, without registering F.I.R., a Police Officer has no power to collect evidence. It means without registering F.I.R., he has no power to investigate the case. F.I.R., is a condition precedent to conduct investigation.

11. Now, as stated above, the order passed by the learned Magistrate under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., is a direction to conduct investigation. On receipt of the said direction under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., it is the duty of the Police Officer to register F.I.R. Thereafter only, he can collect evidence/conduct investigation.

12. If the collected evidence disclosed commission of cognizable offence, he has to file a final report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C., before the concerned Court. If it is a 'Mistake of Fact (M.F.)' 'Mistake of Law (M.L.)' 'Civil Case', then accordingly he can file a negative final report before the concerned Magistrate, however after giving notice to the complainant (See Lalitha Kumari vs. Govt. of U.P & others [2013 (4) Crimes 243 (SC)]. If the complainant is aggrieved, he can present a complaint before the learned Magistrate, which is also known as “Protest Petition”.

13. In the instant case, admittedly, F.I.R., was not registered, in