A single judge at Allahabad High Court, held as follows:
From Para 34,
Waseem Vs State of UP and Anr on 30 Aug 2022In paragraph No. 4 of the affidavit, it is mentioned that a meeting was convened on 26.8.2022 under the Chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, which was attended by Mr. B.D. Paulson, Secretary, Home Department, Government of U.P. Lucknow, Mr. Tarun Gauba, Secretary Home Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Mr. M.K. Bashal, Additional Director General of Police (Crime), U.P. Lucknow, Mr. Prem Prakash, Additional Director General of Police, Prayagraj Zone, Prayagraj (through video conferencing), Mr. Amit Pathak, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Public Grievance) DGP Headquarters, U.P. Lucknow, Mr. Rakesh Kumar Malpani, Special Secretary, Home Department, Dr. A.K. Singh, Special Secretary, Home Department, Mr. Shiv Kumar Pal, Government Advocate, High Court, Allahabad (through video conferencing), Mr. M.C. Chaturvedi, Additional Advocate General, High Court, Allahabad (through video conferencing) and Mr. Ashish Singh, Senior Prosecuting Officer and after due deliberation, following decisions were taken:
(i) Postmortem and injury reports must be typed out and made easily legible and practice of handwritten reports be discontinued.
(ii) During the postmortem examination, there should be DNA and fingerprint sampling and necessary software must be developed for this purpose.
(iii) In cases of gunshot injuries, instead of full body xray, the x-ray should be of the area where the wound is located. However, in such cases where the wound of entry or exit is not apparent, the need of taking x-ray be made mandatory.
(iv) During postmortem examination, the injuries on the dead body should be photographed in colour to highlight the same.
(v) An index be prepared to be appended with each case diary, which is submitted before the Prosecutor/Hon’ble Judges. It should be explored if necessary facility can be provided through CCTNS software.
(vi) A synopsis be prepared of the contents of the report containing the opinion of the investigating officer as encapsulated in the report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C. An index should also be prepared for convenient perusal and reference. This synopsis be a part of the report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C.
(vii) The importance of the role of the supervisory officer be emphasized and that the said officer should not function only as a post office. Every investigation must be scrutinized in a microscopic manner and any lacuna or lapse must be pointed out to the investigating officer. Provisions should also be made for training the investigating officer on a regular basis.
(viii) Senior Supervisory Officers must submit the report submitted by the police under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C expeditiously and not hold it back in their custody needlessly. In this context, a letter dated 05.05.2016 had already been issued by the Director General of Police, U.P. Lucknow.
(ix) Before ordering further investigation under Section 173(8), it is desirable to seek permission/give information to the concerned learned court, but the necessity of this step be examined in the light of the relevant and applicable statutory provisions and the judgements and observations passed by Hon’ble Apex Court and Hon’ble High Court. In all cases where the statements of witnesses are recorded using audio/video mode, the relevant material be made part of the case diary by means of compact disc/pen drive.
(x) The font size used for preparing the case diary be increased to a size, which would facilitate easy and legible perusal of the same. For this purpose, the cooperation of NIC be sought to implement the increase in font-size in the records, uploaded on the CCTNS.
(xi) The strict adherence be ensured to the statutory provisions encapsulated in Section 65B IPC and that investigating officer be trained to adopt a sensitive approach in these matters.
(xii) It was emphasized that proper directions be imparted to supervisory officers to ensure that they perform their duty efficiently and diligently. It was informed by the Additional Director General of Police (crime) that in all districts (pan state) training was being imparted in orderly room and by crime meetings. The Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Government of U.P., Lucknow issued directions that action be initiated against those investigating officer who displayed negligence in discharging their duties and thereby impair fair and proper investigation.
(xiii) In every district, the Joint Director (Prosecution) should head a legal cell, which should be established with the aim to educate all investigating officers with the latest amendments in criminal law and the judgements passed by the Hon’ble Apex Court and Hon’ble High Court.
(xiv) Lastly, it was decided that the necessary government order/circular/road-map, which was to be issued covered a vast range and the support and cooperation of technical and other departments was required.