Informant's Right to Notice Under S.157(2) CrPC When Accused Are Dropped from Final Report Is Mandatory: Kerala High Court - 2024-09-02

Informant Must Be Notified if Accused Are Dropped from Final Report, Reiterates Kerala High Court

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has emphatically reaffirmed a crucial procedural safeguard for victims of crime, ruling that both the investigating officer and the Magistrate have a mandatory duty to notify the original informant if any accused named in the First Information Report (FIR) are dropped from the final police report.

The decision was delivered by a single-judge bench of Justice K.Babu in a suo motu criminal revision case (Crl.RC 2/2024). The Court stressed that failing to provide such notice deprives the informant of their fundamental right to be heard before the court accepts the police's findings.

Case Background

The issue came to the High Court's attention during the hearing of a separate revision petition (Crl.Rev.Pet.No.1217 of 2023). In that case, the Court noted a significant procedural lapse by the police and the Magistrate. The underlying crime (Crime No. 987 of 2015) initially named nine individuals as accused in the FIR for offences including criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and forgery under the Indian Penal Code.

However, when the investigating officer filed the final report under Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.), four of the original accused were dropped, and one new person was added. The informant, who set the law in motion, was never notified of this significant change. The Magistrate proceeded to take cognizance of the offences against the remaining accused without giving the informant an opportunity to object or file a protest petition. Observing this "unjustified" omission, the High Court initiated the present suo motu proceedings to correct the error.

Legal Principles and Court's Reasoning

Justice K.Babu centered the judgment on the informant's right to participate in the proceedings, especially when the police conclude there is insufficient evidence against some of the accused. The court highlighted two key legal mandates:

1. Duty of the Investigating Officer under Section 157(2) Cr.P.C.: The Court referenced Section 157(2), which explicitly states that if an officer in charge of a police station decides there are "no sufficient grounds for entering on an investigation," they must "forthwith notify to the informant" of this decision. The Court extended this principle to situations where an investigation is dropped against specific individuals.

2. Duty of the Magistrate as per Supreme Court Precedents: The bench heavily relied on the landmark Supreme Court judgment in Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police (1985) , which established that a Magistrate must give notice to the informant before accepting a final report that drops proceedings against any accused. This allows the informant to challenge the police's findings. This principle was also reiterated by the Kerala High Court in Anil Kumar v. Latha Mohan (2021) .

Pivotal Excerpts from the Judgment

In his order, Justice Babu stated:

"In a case where the Magistrate to whom a report is forwarded under Section 173(2) decides not to take cognizance of the offence and to drop the proceedings or takes the view that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against some of the persons mentioned in the FIR, the Magistrate must give notice to the informant and provide him an opportunity to be heard at the time of consideration of the report."

Condemning the failure in the present case, the court added:

"There is no justification for depriving the informant of the opportunity to be heard at the time when the report was considered by the Magistrate."

Final Decision and Implications

Allowing the criminal revision, the High Court set aside the Magistrate's order of taking cognizance and directed the following corrective actions:

1. The learned Magistrate must issue a formal notice to the informant/victim regarding the investigating officer's finding that there was insufficient ground to proceed against some of the accused.
2. Only after providing this notice and an opportunity to be heard, the Magistrate shall proceed further with the case from the stage of taking cognizance, in accordance with the law.

This judgment serves as a strong reminder to both the police and the lower judiciary of their obligations to uphold the rights of victims and informants, ensuring that crucial decisions about who to prosecute are not made without their knowledge and participation.