Dubbing as illegal the practice of judicial magistrates submitting inquiry reports in cases of custodial rape or murder to the District Collectors, Madras High Court has said that Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) did not provide for such an action.
Setting aside a GO, which closed an FIR in a custodial death case, Justice S Nagamuthu said police could not close the case on the basis of the magisterial inquiry report.
Judicial magistrates' inquiry cannot preclude police from proceeding with their investigation and filing chargesheet, while police probe cannot preclude magistrates from conducting the inquiry, he said.
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The inquiry report shall be given to the investigating police, who could use the material as an input for the investigation and the eventual final report, he said.
Passing orders on a petition by one R Kasthuri, whose husband died in police custody in August 2010, the judge set aside the GO, which closed the case, and directed the CB-CID to probe the matter and file a final report.
The petitioner submitted that she was informed by police that her husband had died in Kadampuliyur Police Station on August 18, 2010, two days after he was taken for investigation in some theft cases.
The petitioner and her relatives had complained to all authorities, including the Chief Minister's Cell, that her husband was tortured for two days and his arrest was disclosed on August 18 only when he died.
Police had claimed during a magisterial inquiry that he was detained in some theft cases only on August 18 and on the same day he died after falling down from a vehicle, attempting to flee from their custody.
Though magisterial inquiry did not approve of the police claim, it also observed that police excesses alone could not have resulted in the man's death. Later, police had closed the case on the basis of the report.
"The police officer shall not stop the investigation even for a moment after the registration of the FIR and he shall continue it swiftly and thoroughly. On receipt of records from judicial magistrate, he shall use it for his further investigation," the judge said.
The judge also disapproved of magistrate's report to the collector saying the procedure was "undoubtedly illegal".
The inquiry held by a judicial magistrate is a judicial inquiry in character and it does not form part of the investigation and the Magistrate shall not submit a report to the district collector of the government," he said.
