O R D E R

This Criminal Original Petition has been filed, invoking Section

482 Cr.P.C., seeking orders to direct the first respondent to withdraw the case in Crime No.291 of 2015 on the file of the third respondent and transfer the case to the second respondent or to any other competent investigation agency.

2.When the matter was taken up for hearing on 25.01.2022, this Court, on hearing the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Additional Public Prosecutor, has directed the Registry to call for a report from the learned Judicial Magistrate No.1, Kuzhithurai, as to whether a final report has been filed in Crime No.291 of 2015 on the file of the Marthandam Police Station, Kanyakumari District and as to the stage of the proceedings.

3.In pursuance of the same, the learned Judicial Magistrate No.1, Kuzhithurai, has submitted a report dated 01.02.2022 stating that the entire records in Crime No.291 of 2015 of Marthandam Police Station has already been sent to the Tahsildar, Vilavancode Taluk vide letter dated 22.06.2017, that the police authorities submitted a final report before the Tahsildar, Vilavancode Taluk on 17.08.2015 and based on that report, Tahsildar, Vilavancode Taluk, has passed an order dated

09.03.2018 as “Action Dropped” and the learned Magistrate has also submitted a copy of the proceedings of the Tahsildar dated 09.03.2018 along with her report. It is evident from the proceedings of the Tahsildar dated 09.03.2018 that he has passed an order accepting the final report filed by the respondent police and the FIR was ordered to be closed as “Action Dropped”.

4.The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the respondent police ought to have filed the final report before the Jurisdictional Magistrate and not before the Executive Magistrate, as he has no power or jurisdiction to pass any order in the final report and he relied on a decision of this Court in Manohari and others vs. The District Superintendent of Police, Sivagangai District and others reported in 2018 (2) LW (Crl.) 522, wherein, a learned Judge of this Court, after considering the various decisions on this aspect, has answered the issue that were raised in a batch cases and the relevant passage is extracted hereunder:-

24. In view of the above, this Court proceeds to answer the issue that was raised in this case as follows:

a)The Police on receipt of an information about the suspicious death shall registered an F.I.R under Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code and thereafter he can proceed to the scene of occurrence and prepare an Inquest Report.

b)When a Police Officer receives an information to the effect that the deceased is lying in a serious condition, he can rush to the scene of occurrence, in order to see if he can save the victim and if in case the victim does not survive he can proceed to prepare the Inquest Report in accordance with Section 174(1) of Cr.P.C, and thereafter register an F.I.R under Section 174 of Cr.P.C. The Inquest Report has to describe the wounds, fractures, bruises and other marks of injuries as are found on the dead body and state in what manner, or by what weapon or instrument [if any], such marks appear to have been inflicted.

c)The Police Officer shall also prepare a Rough Sketch of the place of occurrence.

d)The Inquest Report and the Rough Sketch shall be prepared in the presence of two or more respectable inhabitants of the neighborhood.

e)The object of the Inquest Proceedings is merely to ascertain whether a person has died under unnatural circumstances or an unnatural death and if so, what is the cause of death. The Inquest Report need not contain details such as how the deceased was assaulted or who assaulted him or under what circumstances he was assaulted and these facts are not within the scope of Inquest Proceedings and they fall within the scope of the investigation to be conducted by the Police.

f)immediately after the preparation of the Inquest Report in accordanc