CWP No.7491 of 2009 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. C. W. P. No. 7491 of 2009 Date of Decision: 20 - 10 - 2009 Ishar Singh ....Petitioner v. State of Punjab and others ....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA *** Present: Mr.Atul Lakhanpal, Sr. Advocate with Mr.R.S.Chahal, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr.Anil Kumar Sharma, Addl.A.G., Punjab for the respondents. *** KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA, J. (ORAL) Jaswant Singh brother of the petitioner died an unnatural death. Petitioner submit that information regarding his death was relayed on 25.3.2009 at 10.15 A.M.. Deceased was residing with his wife Kulwant Kaur and adopted daughter Amandeep Kaur. An enquiry into the cause of death was conducted by Superintendent of Police, Detective, Fatehgarh Sahib. In the enquiry report, he concluded that both widow and adopted daughter had no reason to commit the murder as alleged by the petitioner. After examining the witnesses, Enquiry Officer concluded that Jaswant Singh deceased was perturbed due to his ailment and also due to the fact CWP No.7491 of 2009 [2] that his daughter became widow after seven months of her marriage. Enquiry Officer concluded that it is a case of suicide. Findings of the Enquiry Officer are being assailed by Mr.Atul Lakhanpal, senior counsel on the ground that Ballistic Expert after examining the scene of crime from the photographs has concluded that it is not a case of suicide. In the present writ petition, no mala fide has been alleged against the Enquiry Officer. The Enquiry Officer in his report has already concluded that deceased was having a property which the petitioner intend to grab by naming the widow and daughter as accused. I have heard Mr.Atul Lakhanpal, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr.R.S.Chahal and also Mr.Anil Kumar Sharma, counsel appearing for the State. In the present case, the view formulated by the Investigating Officer is the one view which is possible. Post-mortem report, statements of the witnesses are available, therefore, no special investigation is required. From the photographs for reconstruction of the scene of crime, experts can be examined in the Court of law in support of the rival contentions whether death of Jaswant Singh was suicidal or homicidal. Ballistic, forensic expert if necessary can be pressed into service by the concerned. Taking this aspect into consideration, I am of the view that the Area Judicial Magistrate under Section 190(1)(c) Cr.P.C., is competent to redress the grievance of the petitioner. File of the present case be sent to the Area Judicial Magistrate First Class who shall form an opinion whether to proceed in the present case under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. or 190(1)(c) Cr.P.C. Section 190(1)(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure vests CWP No.7491 of 2009 [3] power in the Magistrate to proceed in accordance with law when such complaint has been received and also Section 190(1)(c) to proceed when any information has been received from any person other than a police officer or upon his own knowledge that such offence has been committed. Section 156(3) of the Code of criminal Procedure empowers any Magistrate to order investigation as has been envisaged under Section 156 Cr.P.C. Section 2(g) of Cr.P.C. Defines inquiry as under: inquiry” means every inquiry, other than a trial, conducted under this Code by a Magistrate or Court;” Further more, Section 2(h) defines investigation, which also reads as under: “investigation” includes all the proceedings under this Code for the collection of evidence conducted by a police officer or by any person (other than a Magistrate) who is authorised by a Magistrate in this behalf.” After this file is received by the Judicial Magistrate (1st Class), he shall formulate his own opinion in this case to find out whether any offence has been committed and inquiry is to be conducted or an investigation is called for. The code of criminal Procedure vests ample powers in the Area Judicial Magistrate (1st Class) to redress the grievances of the petitioner. With these observations, present petition is disposed of. ( KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA ) October 20, 2009. JUDGE RC CWP No.7491 of 2009 [4]