"Police have a lot to explain:" Delhi High Court orders registration of FIR against BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain accused of rape

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered that a First Information Report (FIR) be registered in a rape complaint against Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a BJP Member of Legislative Council [Syed Shahnawaz Hussain v The State]..Single-judge Asha Menon noted that the police had a lot to explain for not having registered an FIR on the receipt of a complaint sent to the Commissioner of Police which clearly disclosed the commission of a cognizable offence of rape after administration of a stupefying substance.“Clearly, till the directions were issued by the learned trial court, no investigations were carried out,” the Court observed..Further, taking note of the status report filed before the High Court, it was said that the same had no mention of why the FIR was not lodged.“The FIR only puts the machinery into operation. It is a foundation for investigation of the offence complained of. It is only after investigations that the police can come to the conclusion whether or not an offence had been committed and if so by whom,” the Court said.Therefore, Justice Menon noted that there seemed to be a complete reluctance on the part of the police to even register an FIR..The single-judge made these observations while hearing a challenge to the order of a Special Judge who had upheld the orders of the Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) directing the registration of an FIR.The police had informed the MM that as per the inquiry,the allegations raised by the complainant were not substantiated. Despite this, following the decision of the Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari v Government of Uttar Pradesh, the MM passed an order directing registration of FIR. The special judge subsequently upheld this decision..The petitioner argued before the High Court that an undated complaint to the Police Commissioner would not fulfil the procedural requirements under Section 154(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). It was stated that coming to the court without approaching the police was in complete violation of law..However, the Court disagreed with this argument, while highlighting that in case a police officer declines to register the complaint, the complainant can send the substance of the information to a superior police officer.“The law thus gives the complainant the right to approach a superior officer in case of the commission of a cognizable offence.”.Additionally, the judge said that the SHO on receiving information of a cognizable offence being conducted was required to register an FIR.“The directions issued by the learned trial court to do so can hardly be described as an “irregularity” committed by the learned Trial Court and the said order calls for no interference”, it was held..With this, the petition was dismissed and an FIR was directed to be registered. Additionally, the investigation was ordered to be completed within three months..The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocates Siddharth Luthra, Geeta Luthra and advocates Vineet Malhotra, Vikas Arora, Shivani Luthra Lohiya, Asmita, Apoorva Maheshwari and Vishal Gohsi. The respondents was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Ritesh Kumar Bahri and Advocates Sanjiv Kumar Singh..[Read Order]