The Defacto Complainant, on whose complaint a case originally was registered on the file of the All Women Police Station, Erode as Crime No.13/2008, has come forward with the present petition under section 482 of Cr.P.C. for an order transferring the investigation of the said case from the 3rd respondent herein to the 2nd respondent. The 3rd respondent is the Inspector of Police, All Women Police Statiion, Adyar, Chennai-20. The 2nd respondent is the Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station, Erode. The necessity for seeking such transfer arose because of the transfer of the investigation of the above said case from the file of All Women Police Station, Erode to the file of All Women Police Station, Adyar, Chennai on jurisdictional ground.
2. The submissions made by Mr.R.Gandhi, learned senior counsel representing the counsel for the petitioner, Mr.I.Paul Nobel Devakumar, learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) representing the respondents 1 to 3 herein and Mr.Prof.M.Udhayabhanu, learned counsel representing respondents 4 to 6 were heard. The documents produced alongwith the petition and the papers produced at the time of hearing on either side were also taken into consideration.
3. The learned senior counsel for the petitioner, at the time of submitting arguments, on instructions, submitted that the grievance of the petitioner was that the 3rd respondent should not be allowed to investigate the case as the petitioner reasonably apprehended bias on her part and that it would be sufficient if the investigation was transferred from the file of the 3rd respondent to another competent police officer in Chennai itself.
4. The learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) without admitting the allegation made by the petitioner submitted that it would be desirable to have the investigation entrusted to any senior officer at Chennai. The learned counsel for the respondents 4 to 6, on the other hand, vehemently opposing this petition stated that the petitioner was submitting complaints after complaints in order to harass respondents 4 to 6 and the intention of the petitioner was to get as much as property as possible, besides harassing the respondents 4 to 6.
5. It is a fact that can be discerned from the documents that the petitioner was, at the initial stage, made to run from pillar to post to get her complaint registered as a case. Initially, the complaint lodged by her with the 3rd respondent did not get any favourable response. Therefore she had to approach the Commissioner of Police, Director General of Police, State Legal Services Authority and State Women's Commission. At last the Director General of Police forwarded the complaint to the 2nd respondent, namely the Inspector of Police, All Women Police station, Erode to register a case and investigate the same. This was done because at that point of time, the petitioner was residing within the jurisdiction of the said police station alongwith her parents.
6. However, the 2nd respondent, after registering the case, chose to transfer the same again to the file of the All Women Police Station, Adyar, Chennai on grounds of jurisdiction. This added fuel to the agony suffered by the petitioner in her desperate attempt to get a case registered and properly investigated. The petitioner has expressed an apprehension that at present, if the 3rd respondent is allowed to continue the investigation, she would try to prevent the petitioner from getting necessary reliefs as she is biased against the petitioner. When such an apprehension is expressed and there are grounds for holding the said apprehension to be reasonable, that the 3rd respondent herein is biased, this court is of the considered view that it shall be in the interest of justice to direct the transfer of the investigation to the file of another police officer in Chennai itself.
7. The records produced at the time of hearing would also to show that an attempt had been made by the 3rd respondent to close the complaint and direct the parties to seek relief in a Civil/Matrimonial Court. For that reason also this court come to the conclusion that it is just and necessary to transfer the investigation to some other officer. As rightly suggested by the learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side), it shall be desirable to have the case investigated by an officer in the rank of Assistant Commissioner / Deputy Superintendent of Police.
8. For all the reasons state above, this petition is allowed and it is hereby directed that the investigation of the case registered as Cr.No.13/2008 on the file of All Women Police Station, Erode is transferred from the file of the 3rd respondent herein to the file of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Thousand Lights, Chennai. The Assistant Commissioner (Law and Order), Thousand Lights, Chennai is directed to complete the investigation and submit final report as expeditiously as possible. Consequently connected M.P.No.1 of 2009 is closed.
tsh To
1. State Represented by Director General of Police Chennai 600 004.
2. The Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station, Erode, Erode District.
3. The Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station, Adyar, Chennai 600 020