1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR Criminal Application No.781 of 2010 IN Criminal Application No. 1218 of 2010 [Virendra Dinkarrao Pilondre Vs. State of Mah.] Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders Court's or Judge's orders or directions and Registrar's orders. Mr. Anil Mardikar, Adv., for the applicant. Mr. S.S. Doifode, APP for respondent. ----- CORAM : A.H. JOSHI, J. DATE : 12th August, 2010. 1. By this application, applicant has prayed for a direction that the prosecution be directed to supply legible copy of First Information Report in Crime No. 208/10, as the copy of First Information Report delivered, if any, in the Court No.2 of Judicial Magistrate First Class could not be traced, and copy supplied by learned APP at the oral directions was not legible. 2. This Court had called from the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No.2, Nagpur, the Register in which copies of First Information Reports received from various Police Stations 2 are to be entered, and the First Information Report received from Dhantoli Police Station in Crime No. 208/10. 3. Register and copy of First Information Report have been produced by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No.2, Nagpur. Perusal of this Register discloses that it is not updated since midst of the year 2009. 4. It appears that because of this situation, the applicant herein was not able to get copy of First Information Report from the Court No. 2 of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Nagpur. 5. It is also seen that the copy of First Information Report produced by the applicant is not legible. 6. Copy of First Information Report seen in the case diary too is illegible. The Police Inspector, who had come to Court to assist the learned APP, was unable to read the text of handwritten part of First Information Report seen in Case Diary. 7. This Court has noticed in large number of cases, and it is often a recurrent event that a grievance is made before this Court that copy of First Information Report is not available because it is not punctually delivered in the 3 Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, or when delivered, the proper filing and preservation thereof is not done. 8. It was also observed in large number of cases that copy of First Information Report is illegible. Litigants are facing great difficulties in pursuing the cases, and Courts face difficulties while deciding the cases. 9. This Court had, therefore, passed order on 11th August, 2010, and called upon learned APP to take instructions from Commissioner of Police, Nagpur, the Inspector General of Police, Nagpur Range, as well as at Amravati Range, as to what steps these Officers propose to take to ensure supply of legible copy of First Information Report and for maintenance of proper record of delivery into the Court of the First Information Reports. 10. Learned APP has informed this Court that appropriate directions have been issued by these Officers directing all concerned to record the First Information Report in a clear and legible manner and to furnish legible copies of First Information Reports which shall also be available or delivered to the parties as per rules. Learned APP has placed on record copies of these communications. 11. It is seen that instructions issued by 4 these three different Officers consist of a common direction that the First Information Report be recorded in legible manner and copies thereof be supplied, however, there is some variance in the details part of these instructions. 12. It shall be appropriate if the Director General of Police, Maharashtra State, takes steps to issue common instructions, in order that recording of First Information Report and supply of copies thereof is done in a proper and legible manner in a uniform pattern. 13. For the present, in view of the instructions received by APP from three Authorities, and a statement made by APP before this Court, copies of communications issued by these Officers to learned APP are taken on record, and accepted as undertaking given to this Court. 14. Hence following directions are issued:- [A][i] The Director General of Police, Maharashtra State, is directed to peruse the directions issued by three different Officers referred to herein before, and issue common directions to be uniformly followed by all Police Stations as regards recording and issuance of legible 5 copies of First Information Reports. [ii] These directions be issued within thirty days from the date of receipt of order of this Court. [iii] Learned Additional Public Prosecutor of this Court is directed to communicate these directions to the Director General of Police along with copies of communications placed before this Court. [B] Principal District and Sessions Judge, Nagpur, is directed to ensure that within a specified period, the old backlog of incomplete registers of First Information Reports of the Courts of Judicial Magistrates under his control be got completed, and compliance report be furnished to this Court within three months. [C] Registrar General is directed to circulate copy of this Order to all Principal District Judges & Sessions Courts, as well to Judicial Magistrates First Class to ensure that the registers, as prescribed by Clause 11 under the Head Registers, Books and Files to be maintained by the Court of the Judicial Magistrate 6 and the Criminal Side of the Court of the Civil Judges, J.D. and J.M.F.C. of Schedule  B of the Criminal Manual, are regularly maintained and are kept updated. [D] Steno copy of this order be supplied to learned APP. Judge |Hedau|