IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
(Madurai Bench)
D.Murugesan J
Tamil Sakthi v. State of T.N. & Ors.,
W.P(MD)No.5145 of 2005 dtd. 18.12.2009

Ratios:
a. Duty to register FIR on receipt of information as to commission of cognizable offence is mandatory in nature for an officer in charge of the police station.
b. For registration of FIR, the information given need not be given by the person affected. It may be given by anyone.
c. Even if the informant did not have the personal knowledge of the commission of a cognizable offence, an officer in charge of the police station cannot refuse to register the case.
d. Criminal Procedure Code do not require the presence of the complainant after the complaint was lodged for the purpose of registering the case.
e. If a man dishonestly exploits a woman sexually by a deceptive and false representation, which he intended never to fulfil, leading the woman to loss of reputation or damage, such an act would come within the purview of Section 417 IPC.
f. When a public functionary fails to perform his mandatory ministerial duty resulted in a serious damage to the victim, depending upon the nature of the case, Court may award compensation.
g. When a public functionary commits dereliction of duty which is administerial in nature, inspite of its serious consequences to the affected party, Court may not award compensation.
h. Human rights are natural rights which come by birth as human beings which are basic, indivisible, inalienable and inherent with which a person is born.
i. Human rights, by their free nature constitute the minimum that is necessary for an individual to live in civil and political society as a free person with dignity and respect.
j. Reputation of a woman in the society is one of the foremost human rights which should be preserved for a woman.
k. Failure of law reflects the failure of society to protect and serve humanity.
l. Failure to register the case despite merit is not only a serious dereliction of duty, but also a serious intrude with human rights.
m. Failure of the police to register FIR despite merit would entitle the victim for adequate compensation for his mental agony and torture.
n. For a gross and shocking violation of the fundamental right guaranteed under Art.21, public law remedy is available to claim compensation.

Headnote:(A)Constitution of India-Art.21, 226-Human rights-Rape-Registration of case-Failure-Compensation-Public official-Duty-Failure of duty-Reputation-Reputation of woman-Departmental action-A man promised to marry the petitioner and on that promise obtained her consent for sexual intercourse and after that refused to marry her-Petitioner’s father lodged FIR with police who did not register FIR-After few days, on insistence, petitioner was asked to meet another police- They also failed to register FIR-Petitioner’s representation to higher official did not get any result-When her petition for direction before High Court came for hearing, police informed about registration of FIR-Petitioner filed writ petition for compensation-Respondent contended that the petitioner did not lodge report and the report of her father was hearsay, delay was due to her non-cooperation-Held, the police should not refuse to register FIR merely because the eye witness did not lodge it-When public functionary failed to act as per mandate of law and the human rights of the victim is violated, the victim is entitled for compensation-Government was directed to pay compensation of Rs.1,00,000 to petitioner and recover it from the defaulted police official-Government was also directed to take departmental action against the defaulted official.

        (B)Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)-Sec.154-FIR-Registration-Information-Cognizable offence-Victim-Police officer-Duty-Duty to register FIR on receipt of information as to commission of cognizable offence is mandatory in nature for an officer in charge of the police station- For registration of FIR, the information given need not be given by the person affected. It may be given by anyone- Even if the informant did not have the personal knowledge of the commission of a cognizable offence, the officer in charge of police station cannot refuse to register the case- Criminal Procedure Code does not require the presence of the complainant after the complaint was lodged for the purpose of registering the case.

        If the information is given orally, it should be reduced by the officer in charge of the police station or under his direction, by other officer. In any case, the information should be reduced to writing. Apart from the above, the substance thereof shall also be entered in the book to be kept by such officer. Sub-section (2) of Section 154 requires that officer to furnish forthwith a copy of the information as recorded under sub-section (1) of Section 154 to the informant free of cost. The above provisions are mandatory in nature for an officer in charge of the police station to perform while he receives every information which relates to the commission of a cognizable offence. That provision does not require that the information should be given only by the person affected and the provision speaks only of information. Para 10

        In fact, even if the informant did not have the personal knowledge of the incident, the officer cannot refuse to register the case. Para 11

        She cannot refuse to register the complaint on the ground that she issued summons to the complainant and the complainant did not turn up thereafter, as the provision of Section 154(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code does not require the presence of the complainant after the complaint was lodged for the purpose of registering the case. Para 13

        (C)Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860)-Sec.417-Cheating-Woman-Sexual intercourse-Marriage-Promise to marry-Representation-False representation-Consent-Fraud-If a man dishonestly exploits a woman sexually by a deceptive and false representation, which he intended never to fulfil, leading the woman to loss of reputation or damage, such an act would come within the purview of Section 417 IPC.

        In the event a man had dishonestly intended to exploit a woman sexually by a deceptive and false representation, which he intended never to fulfil, leading the woman to loss of reputation or damage and then such an act would come within the purview of Section 417 of the Indian Penal Code. It is also normally known that the sexual harassment and rape are two sides of the same coin and both of them show the power of man to dominate a woman. Both sexual harassment and rape have the same object to undermine the integrity of the victim physically as well as mentally.

        Para 14

        (D)Constitution of India-Art.21, 226-Public official-Duty-Ministerial duty-Administerial duty-Failure-Victim-Compensation-When a public functionary fails to perform his mandatory ministerial duty resulted in a serious damage to the victim, depending upon the nature of the case, Court may award compensation-When a public functionary commits dereliction of duty which is administerial in nature, inspite of its serious consequences to the affected party, Court may not award compensation.

        The dereliction of duty by a public functionary may generally arise on two occasions. That is the dereliction of duty relating to ministerial functions, which are otherwise mandatory in nature and failure to perform such duty will result in severe damage to the complainant/victim. In such circumstances, compensation can be considered by the Court depending upon the nature of the case. The other occasion of dereliction of duty is administerial in nature like failure to make necessary entries in the case diary, general diary, etc., which may be a procedural lapse, though sometimes it may have also serious consequences. In such circumstances, the Court may not award compensation for failure of the public functionaries to discharge their administerial functions. Para 17

        (E)Constitution of India-Art.21, Human rights-Nature-Woman-Reputation-Preservation-Human rights are natural rights which come by birth as human beings which are basic, indivisible, inalienable and inherent with which a person is born-Human rights, by their free nature constitute the minimum that is necessary for an individual to live in civil and political society as a free person with dignity and respect- Reputation of a woman in the society is one of the foremost human rights which should be preserved for a woman.

        Human rights are derived from dignity and are inherent in human beings. Human rights are natural rights which come by birth as human beings which are basic, indivisible, inalienable and inherent with which a person is born. Broadly speaking, human rights may be regarded as those fundamental rights which are possessed by every human being. Such rights by their free nature constitute the minimum that is necessary for an individual to live in civil and political society as a free person with dignity and respect. Reputation of a woman in the society is one of the foremost rights which should be preserved for a woman. Para 18

        (F)Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)-Sec.154-FIR-Registration-Failure-Public official-Dereliction of duty-Victim-Right-Compensation-Failure of law reflects the failure of society to protect and serve humanity-Failure to register the case despite merit is not only a serious dereliction of duty, but also a serious intrude with human rights-Failure of the police to register FIR despite merit would entitle the victim for adequate compensation for his mental agony and torture.

        Failure of law reflects the failure of society to protect and serve humanity. Failure to register the case despite merit is not only a serious dereliction of duty, but also a serious intrude with human rights. In these circumstances, the failure on the part of the respondents would certainly entitle the victim for adequate compensation for her mental agony and torture for the period from 3.2.2005 at least till the case was registered on 17.3.2005. Para 19

        (G)Constitution of India-Art.21, 226-Fundamental right-Human rights-Right to life-Violation-Compensation-Public law remedy-Writ-For a gross and shocking violation of the fundamental right guaranteed under Art.21, public law remedy is available to claim compensation.

        The general principles in awarding the compensation are traceable to public law. They may be broadly categorised as the violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the violation is gross and shock the conscience of the Court. That apart, the violation is patent and incontrovertible. Para 20