THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI WRIT PETITION No.20052 OF 2016

O R D E R:

This Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of Constitution of India seeking the following relief/s:-

“…to issue an appropriate Writ, Order or Direction, more particularly one in the nature of WRIT OF MANDAMUS declaring the negligence and inaction of the respondents to register F.I.R./Crime after receipt of the complaint from petitioners and in not investigating the offence complained against the accused and not prosecuting the offenders according to law, as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional, mob fide and violative of Article 21 and 300A of The Constitution of India, and direct the respondents to register F.I.R., investigate and file charge sheet before the jurisdictional Magistrate and pass such other order or orders as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.…”

2. None appears on behalf of the petitioners.

3. I have heard Mr.R.Laxmikanth Reddy, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home appearing for respondent Nos.1 to 5.

4. The Learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home submits that a writ petition seeking a direction for registration of a criminal case is not maintainable; as such relief is impermissible in view of the settled legal position.

5. I have perused the materials on record.

6. Having regard to the prayer made by the petitioners, it is their grievance that the respondents failed to register an FIR/Crime despite receipt of their complaint. Consequently, they seek a direction from this Court to compel the respondents to register the FIR, investigate the matter, and thereafter file a charge sheet.

7. On this aspect, the issue of whether a writ petition is maintainable for issuance of a direction to register an FIR has been considered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Sakiri Vasu v. State of U.P. & Others, AIR 2008 SC 907. Following the dictum laid down therein, this Court in Govind Raju Sami v. State of Telangana, 2019 SCC OnLine TS 3491, clarified that a party seeking redressal of a grievance regarding non-registration of an FIR must first exhaust the alternative statutory remedies available under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (now replaced in part by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023). Accordingly, a writ petition filed directly for such relief, without availing those remedies, is not maintainable.

8. The aforesaid legal position has further been fortified by a Three-Judge Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in M. Subramaniam v. S. Janaki & Others, AIR 2020 SC 387. In light of the settled position of law, the prayer made in the present writ petition is not maintainable. However, the rights of the petitioners are reserved to approach the jurisdictional Magistrate and avail appropriate remedies as provided under law.

9. Accordingly this writ petition is dismissed as not maintainable. No order as to costs. Miscellaneous Petitions, pending if any, shall stand closed.

_______________ N.TUKARAMJI, J Date: 12.08.2025 mmr