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Recently, an accused Ombir Singh filed a criminal appeal in which he contended that there was a delay in sending FIR to the Chief Judicial magistrate. The authorities took around 11 days to forward the report. The accused challenged his conviction for the murder of Abhaiveer Singh Bhadoria. Charges under the sections 302 and 34 of IPC along with S. 27 of Arms Act were placed. The Court took into consideration the judgment of Jafel Biswas v. State of Bengal, in which the legal effect of delayed submission of FIR upon process of trial and rights of accused was determined.
Reference from other Judgments
In Jafel Biswas v. State of Bengal, it was propounded that sending a delayed FIR to the Magistrate does not mean acquittal of an accused or dispose - off the trials. This ground cannot be a valid reason for acquitting a criminal personality. It was held that “An Inspector Officer has a public duty to communicate the report to the Magistrate. It is an obligation on his part. But the defense of delayed communication cannot be taken for preventing the trials as it would not be affected. Usually, the delay in submitting reports is always taken as a ground to challenge the trustworthiness and originality of FIR along with its real timing”.
The case of Pala Singh v. State of Punjab (1972) was considered where investigation was started on the basis of a FIR without any delay. It took time for the report to reach the Magistrate. That was regarded as an objectionable and an improper act. Still, it was held that this ground was not enough to represent investigation as tainted or unjustified. Therefore, there cannot be any acquittal for the accused. Dispatch of a copy of a FIR ensures presence of veracity with no manipulations. Simple delay cannot be made justifiable (Sudarshan v. State of Maharashtra in 2014).
Hon'ble Court’s Decision
Similarly, same stance has been taken up by the Honorable SC in the current scenario. The Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Mohan M. Shanthanagoudar and Sanjiv Khanna has reasserted that an offender cannot be acquitted for a crime just because a delay was caused in sending a FIR to the Magistrate in accordance with S. 157 of CrPC. On looking at the statement of facts and evidence on record, the criminal appeal was dismissed by the Court.
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