New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that the need for vigilance on the part of the police is paramount, and a discerning eye should be cast upon cases where unscrupulous conduct appears to eclipse the pursuit of justice.
A bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma said," It becomes imperative to state that the police should exercise heightened caution when drawn into dispute pertaining to such unethical transactions between private parties which appear to be prima facie contentious in light of previous inquiries or investigations”.
Justice Nath, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said the police force, which shoulders the vital responsibility of preserving public order, guarding social harmony, and upholding the foundations of justice, should not be entangled to investigate cases of financial impropriety and broken promises and unethical transactions between private parties.
The bench said the need for vigilance on the part of the police is paramount, and a discerning eye should be cast upon cases where unscrupulous conduct appears to eclipse the pursuit of justice. The apex court made these observations while dealing with a case where a broader question arose in connection with the balancing of interests that ought to be done, addressing unscrupulous private grievances and safeguarding public interests.
The bench emphasized on judicious allocation of law enforcement resources and the need for vigilance as it was hearing a criminal appeal filed by Deepak Kumar Shrivas. The appellant moved the apex court against an FIR lodged by a woman, Rajkumari Maravi for allegedly taking Rs four lakh cash from her in April 2019 for getting a job for her daughter.
The appellant claimed the woman herself took Rs one lakh from him ensuring a job for his brother and upon a failure, she stopped taking his call and lodged the false case. The police probed the matter and found none of the parties could furnish proof of monetary transactions and closed the probe. Subsequently, the woman, however, successfully lodged the FIR. “The object of this dispute, manifestly rife with mala fide intentions of only recovering the tainted money by coercion and the threat of criminal proceedings, cannot be allowed to proceed further and exploit the time and resources of the law enforcement agency”, said the bench, in a judgment delivered on February 19.
“Prima facie, the conduct exhibited by the parties involved appears tainted with suspicion, casting a shadow over the veracity of their claims. The report from the previous inquiry reflects a convoluted landscape and unveils a trail of unethical, maybe even criminal, behaviour from both parties”, said the bench, quashing the FIR against the appellant.
The apex court said from the counter-allegations levelled against each other between the parties in the present case, it becomes evident that the police finds itself entangled in the irrelevant and trivial details of such unethical private issues, diverting the resources away from the pursuit of more consequential matters
"The valuable time of the police is consumed in investigating disputes that seem more suited for civil resolution. This underscores the need for a judicious allocation of law enforcement resources, emphasising the importance of channelling their efforts towards matters of greater societal consequence," said the bench.
