Criminal process initiated by registering FIR based upon vague complaint, is abuse of law; Reiterates Bombay HC

The Bombay HC at Goa ruled that that the FIR was registered hurriedly and possibly without even perusing the complaint or in any case the provisions of section 295-B of IPC. As per the High Court, this was an unwarranted assault on creativity and freedom of speech and expression itself.

The Court noted that this is a case where the complaint or the FIR does not disclose the commission of any offense. The basic ingredients necessary to invoke the provisions of section 295-B of the IPC are totally missing. Besides, this is a case where the criminal process has been abused by the Respondents by registering the FIR based upon a vague complaint.

The Petitioners were unnecessarily arrested possibly because they refused to tender any apology at the Police Station. Some of the Petitioners were forced to seek anticipatory bail. The action of the Respondents was contrary to judicial precedents in matters of arrest or explaining the true scope of Section 295-A of IPC.

Court finds merit in the submission that the FIR was registered hurriedly and possibly without even perusing the complaint or in any case the provisions of section 295-B of the IPC.

In the present case, the Respondent has precisely chosen to take a sentence here and a sentence there or rather, a word here and a word there and on such basis filed a vague complaint which does not even spell out the basic ingredients of section 295-A of IPC.

Besides, the Police authorities have completely ignored the dictum of the Supreme Court which provides that the effect of the words must be judged from the standards of reasonable, strong-minded, firm, and courageous men and not those of weak and vacillating minds nor of those who scent danger in every hostile point of view.

The High Court made it clear that Police authorities, without even examining the complaint or for that matter the provisions of section 295-A, hurriedly registered the FIR and then proceeded to even arrest some of the Petitioners, possibly because they refused to apologize at the Police station.

“This is certainly not how the Police machinery should act in a matter of this nature” said the Court.

The prosecution of the Petitioners in pursuance of such an FIR will amount to an abuse of the process of the Court. The Police authorities are expected to be quite sensitive in such matters, because, what is at stake is the freedom of speech and expression.

Therefore, unless the complaint discloses the ingredients of the offense under section 295-A of IPC, it is not expected of the Police authorities to rush and register an FIR in such cases. In any case, there was no justification whatsoever to call some of the Petitioners to the Police Station and require them to apologize or to arrest some of the Petitioners, no sooner the FIR was registered.

Case Title: Sudheer Rikhari vs State of Goa & Ors