Mumbai, June 26: The Bombay High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the repeated refusal of police officers to provide copies of complaints or FIRs to accused persons, despite the legal requirement to do so.
Taking serious note of the practice, the court imposed a personal cost of Rs 25,000 on the Station House Officer (SHO) of Wada Police Station in Palghar district and directed him to supply copies of the complaints to the petitioners within five working days.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad passed the order while hearing a petition filed by persons against whom an offence had been registered at Wada Police Station.
Petitioners Allege Repeated Refusal
The petitioners told the court that although they had appeared before the police after receiving notices, the SHO refused to provide copies of the complaints lodged against them.
The petitioners submitted that they had earlier faced a similar situation in an Economic Offences Wing case in Palghar, where they received copies of the complaints only after “strenuous efforts” through their advocate.
They alleged that when they sought copies in the present case, Police Inspector Dattatray Kidre accused them of indulging in “time killing” and declined their request.
The State's counsel, on instructions, was unable to explain why the copies were not supplied.
Court Expresses Serious Concern
Expressing concern over such repeated instances, the bench observed, “This Court has passed several orders in such matters. Yet, such petitions continue to come before us, and the petitioners are compelled not only to knock on the doors of this Court, but also to spend on litigation.”
The court noted that it has been receiving several petitions seeking directions to police authorities to supply copies of complaints in cases where they are legally required to do so. It added that officers continue to refuse such requests “just for the sake of refusing the same.”
“In such circumstances, where copies of the complaints are legally required to be supplied and are not being supplied… we find that it would be appropriate to impose costs on the SHO in such matters,” the bench said.
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Cost Imposed On SHO
Accordingly, the court directed the SHO of Wada Police Station to deposit Rs 25,000 from his salary account with the High Court within 15 days. The bench also ordered that copies of the complaints be furnished to the petitioners within five working days before disposing of the petition.
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