 "Magistrates should apply mind before passing orders:HC")
The Bombay High Court has cautioned magistrates against passing orders in criminal cases without a proper reason to it, before asking the police to investigate cognizable offences.
A Nagpur bench of the High Court also deplored the tendency among people to misuse provisions of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, to settle personal scores.
Coming down heavily upon persons putting criminal justice into motion for frivolous reasons, a bench consisting of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice P N Deshmukh rapped a top police officer, Shashikant Shinde, who had charged his superiors with denying him promotion due to ill-will and bias.
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"This is nothing else but a glaring example of harassment and humiliation to the officers of the State Government, at the instance of another government employee, so as to settle scores with them on account of his grievances of denial of promotion," the Judges observed.
Shinde, an IPS officer, currently posted as Deputy Inspector General of Prison, Eastern Region (Nagpur), had filed a case against his superiors in police department and Mantralaya alleging that he was denied promotion due to bias and caste considerations.
Before parting with the matter the Judges observed, "We find that various complaints are filed immediately after the Gram Panchayat Elections, alleging offences under the Atrocities Act.
We have no hesitation in saying that in many of the instances, it was found that the complaints were filed only to settle score with their opponents, after defeat in the Gram Panchayat elections.
The court expressed displeasure over a number of orders passed by Magistrates under section 156(3) of Cr.Pc, directing Investigating Officer to register offence "without recording any reasons and without verifying as to whether the complaint discloses the ingredients to constitute an offence or not."