Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Chapter XII—Information to police and their powers to investigate—Duties and responsibilities of Investigating Officer—Considered.
Held : The Investigating Officer is the person tasked with determining a direction, the pace, manner and method of the investigation. In Amarnath Chaubey v. Union of India (2021) 11 SCC 80, it was observed that the police has a primary duty to investigate upon receiving the report of the commission of crime. In Manohar Lal Sharma v. Union of India (2014) 2 SCC 532, this Court observed that one of the responsibilities of the police is protection of life, liberty and property of citizens. The investigation of offences to bring the offender to the book and facilitate the ultimate search for truth is one of the important duties the police has to perform. This is a statutory duty under the Cr.P.C. and is also a constitutional obligation ensuring the maintenance of peace and the upholding of rule of law.
On the responsibility cast on an officer investigating a crime, this Court in Common Cause v. Union of India (2015) 6 SCC 332, observed as under :
"31. There is a very high degree of responsibility placed on an investigating agency to ensure that an innocent person is not subjected to a criminal trial. This responsibility is coupled with an equally high degree of ethical rectitude required of an investigating officer or an investigating agency to ensure that the investigations are carried out without any bias and are conducted in all fairness not only to the accused person but also to the victim of any crime, whether the victim is an individual or the State."
It is well recognised that the Magistrate concerned is not empowered to interfere with the investigation being carried out up until the submission of the report by the said officer. Needless to state then that the role of the Investigating Officer is essential and crucial. Chapter XII of Cr.P.C. titled as "information to the police and their powers to investigate", lays down the procedure and course of action to be taken by the police upon receipt of the commission of an offence cognizable in nature. Section 156 lays down the power of investigation; Section 157 the procedure thereof; Section 160 the power to require attendance of a witness, Section 161 conduct examination of such witness, etc. Section 172 requires such police officer to maintain a case diary and Section 173 lays down the format and the procedure for the report to be issued by such officer.
This Court has in Pooja Pal v. Union of India (2016) 3 SCC 135, expounded as under for criminal investigations and its success :
"96. The avowed purpose of a criminal investigation and its efficacious prospects with the advent of scientific and technical advancements have been candidly synopsised in the prefatory chapter dealing with the history of criminal investigation in the treatise on Criminal Investigation -- Basic Perspectives by Paul B. Weston and Renneth M. Wells:
"Criminal investigation is a lawful search for people and things useful in reconstructing the circumstances of an illegal act or omission and the mental state accompanying it. It is probing from the known to the unknown, backward in time, and its goal is to determine truth as far as it can be discovered in any postfactum inquiry.
Successful investigations are based on fidelity, accuracy and sincerity in lawfully searching for the true facts of an event under investigation and on an equal faithfulness, exactness, and probity in reporting the results of an investigation. Modern investigators are persons who stick to the truth and are absolutely clear about the time and place of an event and the measurable aspects of evidence. They work throughout their investigation fully recognising that even a minor contradiction or error may destroy confidence in their investigation.
The joining of science with traditional criminal investigation techniques offers new horizons of efficiency in criminal investigation. New perspectives in investigation bypass reliance upon informers and custodial interrogation and concentrate upon a skilled scanning of the crime scene for physical evidence and a search for as many witnesses as possible. Mute evidence tells its own story in court, either by its own demonstrativeness or through the testimony of an expert witness involved in its scientific testing. Such evidence may serve in lieu of, or as corroboration of, testimonial evidence of witnesses found and interviewed by police in an extension of their responsibility to seek out the truth of all the circumstances of crime happening. An increasing certainty in solving crimes is possible and will contribute to the major deterrent of crime--the certainty that a criminal will be discovered, arrested and convicted." (Emphasis in original)
With reference to case diaries, it has been observed by this Court in Bhagwant Singh v. Commission of Police (1983) 3 SCC 344, a two Judge Bench observed that entries into the police diary shall be with (a) promptness; (b) in sufficient detail; (c) containing all significant facts; (d) in chronological order; and (e) with complete objectivity.
This Court in Mohd. Imran Khan v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi), (2011) 10 SCC 192, observed as under while noting the effect of objectionable features and infirmities on criminal investigations:
"31. The investigation into a criminal offence must be free from all objectionable features or infirmities which may legitimately lead to a grievance to either of the parties that the investigation was unfair or had been carried out with an ulterior motive which had an adverse impact on the case of either of the parties. The investigating officer is supposed to investigate an offence avoiding any kind of mischief or harassment to either of the party. He has to be fair and conscious so as to rule out any possibility of bias or impartial conduct so that any kind of suspicion to his conduct may be dispelled and the ethical conduct is absolutely essential for investigative professionalism. The investigating officer "is not merely to bolster up a prosecution case with such evidence as may enable the court to record a conviction but to bring out the real unvarnished truth". (Emphasis supplied)
[Paras 38 to 43]
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 302—Murder—Conviction—Investigating officer did not meet the obligations—Numerous infirmities affected the conduct of the Investigation Officer calling into question, credibly, the investigation conducted by him or upon his directions—High Court, without appreciating the testimonies of witnesses in their true import and meaning, and without having any discussion concerning the complicity of accused, in a perfunctory manner held the prosecution to have established the case, which is entirely circumstantial in nature, against the appellant—High Court holds that evidence reveals that “in all human probability the act must have been done by the accused”—Finding of High Court—Erroneous—For the principle of determining the guilt of accused in a case involving circumstantial evidence is not that of probability but certainty and that all the evidence present should conclusively point towards only a singular hypothesis, which is the guilt of the accused—Conviction set aside.
[Paras 44 & 45]