IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CR. WJC No.391 of 2009 DEVAINDER PRASAD SHARMA s/o Ram lowline Sharma, resident of village Jagdishpur Baghnagri, P.S. Sakra, District- Muzaffarpur. Versus 1. STATE OF BIHAR . 2. The Director General of Police of Bihar, Old Secretariat, Patna, Bihar. 3. The I.G. Police Saran Range Head Quarter at Saran , District- Saran. 4. The I.G. Police Patna Head Quarter at Patna. 5. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna. 6. The Superintendent of Police, Siwan. 7. The Officer Incharge Siwan Mufassil Police Station P.S. Siwan, District- Siwan. 8. The Officer Incharge Mahadeva O.P. P.S. Siwan. 9. The Officer Incharge Agamkuan Police Station, Kankarbagh, District- Patna. 10. The Civil Surgeon Siwan, District- Siwan. 11. The Superintendent, Siwan Sadar Hospital, District- Siwan 12. The Administrator, Apollo Burn Hospital, Kumhrar Police Station, Agamkuan, Kankarbagh, District- Patna. ----------- 4 30.11.2009 It is regrettable that people, who are entrusted with the duty to protect citizen and investigate crime and are supposed to be rpotect persons can throw everything to wind with what purpose Court would not like to discuss. One Pratibha Devi daughter of the petitioner Devainder Sharma, was married to Ashish Ranjan @ Chintu Kumar on 28.5.2006. Petitioner is from Muzaffarpur and the husband of the deceased is from Siwan. On 30.10.2008, the daughter of the petitioner was taken to Siwan Sadar Hospital with almost 80% third decree burn injury. She was immediately referred to Patna for better treatment. When she was brought to Patna and admitted Apollo Burn Hospital, petitioner was informed. He reached Apollo Burn Hospital and was 2 shocked. There was none to attend to his daughter, who had been admitted and abandoned. For over next twenty days, daughter of the petitioner struggled with her life. Petitioner managed the treatment but in the end on 26.10.2008 she died in absence of her in-laws and in presence of the petitioner. It is the petitioner , who had the unfortunate duty of arranging for her cremation as well. While she was at Patna in the hospital aforesaid, the deceased made a statement in presence of the petitioner and his wife in which she clearly gave out how her husband and her mother-in-law had burnt her after pouring Kerosene oil on her and how other relations being her-in-laws had been torturing her. She named those persons as well. The statement was recorded on 22.10.2008. This statement and the date on which it is recorded at Patna is of some importance because after recording the same with the post mortem report, the same was immediately sent from Patna Agamkuan Police Station to Siwan Sadar Police Station for registering an FIR and taking up investigation as the occurrence was of within the jurisdiction of Siwan Sadar Police station. What happened to this communication is anybody’s guess because no one including none of the investigating officers nor the Sub-divisional Police Officer, Siwan who is personally present and regrettably the Superintendent of Police, Siwan ever cared to find out where did the original communication emanating from Agamkuan police station vanished because ultimately the FIR then registered after more than two months i.e. on 28.1.2009 at Siwan Sadar Police Station on basis of a copy which the petitioner obtained under Rights to Information Act and filed before the Superintendent of Police, Siwan. The first thing is 3 to be noted here is that for two months, there was no case registered at all in respect of the death of the petitioner’s daughter and inspite of the statement of the deceased on 22.10.2008. Now, starts the interesting part. Petitioner now came to know that a so called statement of the deceased dated 4.10.2008 was recorded at Siwan Sadar Hospital before she was shifted to Patna, which is said to have been recorded by the Sub Inspector of Police, Siwan in the hospital and signed by the deceased. In this statement she alleges that while cooking , her saree caught fire ,thereby completely exonerating all the accused persons making it to be a case of pure accident.This statement was recorded on 4.10.2008 but subsequently surfaced on 23.10.2008 i.e. one day after her statement is recorded at Patna whereby she implicated several of her in laws in burning her alive. This statement dated 4.10.2008 recorded at Siwan is now made the basis of Sanha entry in the police station diary of Siwan Sadar Police Station on the 23rd October, 2008 with no explanation whatsoever as to where was it for the last twenty days even though it was recorded by the Sub inspector of Police, Siwan Sadar Police Station at Siwan Sadar Hospital itself and why suddenly it surfaced one day after the statement was recorded at Patna. What is now most surprising is neither the Subdivisional Police Officer, who is supervising the case nor the Superintendent of Polcie, Siwan even bothered to question any one or find out about these very serious irregularities. Then when nothing was being done by the Siwan Sadar Police Station this writ petition has been filed by the father of the deceased on 15.5.2009. Once this criminal writ petition was filed in this Court and instruction 4 was sought then thing started turning. The husband of the deceased was then arrested. How wonderfully the investigation and supervision was being done is evident from the fact that the Sub Inspector of Police in his supervision notes found it to be a case of under Section 302/34 IPC and not a case of under Section 304B/34 IPC. The reason is not far to look because in view of the amendment of Cr.P.C. and the Evidence Act, the consequence and the trial is different. If it is Section 304B IPC the onus shifts from prosecution . If it is Section 302 IPC, though the sentence may be the same, the onus is entirely on the prosecution who cannot prove anything because naturally when the deceased was burnt, there was no one present. Thereafter as the husband of the deceased has been arrested, a chargesheet was submitted against him on 16.8.09,this time under Section 304B read with Section 34 IPC. Subsequently, a chargesheet has been filed on 28.11.2009 under Section 498A, 304B/34 IPC against the mother-in-law of the deceased. Inspite of there being allegation against other relatives and inspite of Section 498A being involved and used in the chargesheet the others have been given a complete clean chit without any investigation. I may just note the contention of the petitioner why others have been left. It is submitted that Nandosi, who has been named in the FIR belongs to the family, who have people in police employment and that is from where everything has been controlled. I am noting it for the sake of noting. From the facts aforesaid, it would be seen that even at this stage every efforts have been deliberately made to scuttle the trial . There are no original documents of the FIR.The original post 5 mortem report is also not brought on records. Nothing has been investigated as to why so called statement recorded on 4.10.08 surfaced only on 23.10.2008 after the statement of the victim at Patna. How could such a statement at all be made a part of station diary entry on 23.10.08, is also not explained but left for the defence to take advantage of all these lapses in course of the trial. These deliberate steps speak volumes about the investigating agency and the supervising agency and how they step in to engineer the record to curtail prosecution rather then uncovering the truth. That is a matter of serious concern. To me it clearly appears that had the petitioner not taken initiative the case would have been buried for all purposes and buried by conscious action on the part of the investigating agency, who had the duty and the authority to uncover rather than cover. Whether police would further like to investigate including the role of others, who are named in the FIR is for the higher appropriate police officials to consider. In what manner which officers of the Police acted with what motive is also a serious matter of concern, which is required to be enquired into and necessary strict disciplinary action and corrective measures required to be taken appropriate to the facts of the case. In such a situation , that the investigation has now come somewhat on track , I direct the Zonal Inspector General of Police, Saran to personally look into all those aspects of the matter and take action appropriate to the facts arising and noted above within a shortest possible time. All officers would fully co-operate in the 6 matter. This disposes the writ petition. Let a copy of this order be sent by the Registry of this Court to the Zonal I.G., Saran for necessary information and action . The petitioner may also pursue the matter with the concerned I.G. of Police and Director General of Police, Bihar, Patna, on basis of this order of this Court. Singh (Navaniti Prasad Singh, J.)