In a significant ruling, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has determined that it is permissible to register an FIR based on information received through WhatsApp. As a result, initiating a complaint under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) after notifying the police via WhatsApp is considered to be in compliance with both Section 154(1) and 154(3) of the CrPC.

A Single Judge Bench, presided over by Justice Javed Iqbal Wani at the Srinagar Wing, issued a ruling in response to a plea challenging a complaint filed under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) at the City Munsiff’s Court in Srinagar

“Perusal of the record would reveal that the complainant respondent herein seemingly forwarded a complaint on 5.5.2022 before SHO police station concerned as is evident from annexure-B appended to the objections being the pictures of Whatsapp chats between the complainant respondent herein and SHO police station concerned revealing that the complainant had submitted a complaint and made request to the SHO police station concerned for registration of a case and response thereto from the SHO that the complaint has been diarized and is proceeded legally.''

Case Brief -

The case pertained to a property dispute between the petitioners, who are the deceased Javed Sheikh's daughter, and the respondents, who are her siblings. The respondents were embroiled in continuous conflicts with the petitioners regarding the properties left behind by their late father.

The respondent, had conveyed her grievances to the Station House Officer (SHO) of the local police station on multiple occasions through WhatsApp chats. The SHO acknowledged these complaints and confirmed that they were being processed in accordance with the law.

The petitioners contended that the complaints did not fulfill the legal prerequisites as delineated in Sections 154(1) and 154(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). They asserted that they had no knowledge of the most recent application until they were summoned by the Crime Branch. This led them to suggest that the complaints were an endeavor to resolve a private civil family dispute through criminal proceedings

However, the respondent argued that she had adhered to the proper procedure by initially reporting her grievances to the police and substantiating these reports with evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats and emails. Additionally, her complaints asserted that the petitioners had engaged in criminal activities.

''In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, the filing of the complaint/application by the respondent herein and its entertaining by the Magistrate and passing of the impugned order cannot be found fault with. Even if it is assumed that the Whatsapp chats and the email aforesaid were not part of the complaint at the time of its filing before the Magistrate as at this stage while examining the validity of the complaint as also the impugned order, non-filing of the same before the Magistrate would be having no effect on the merits of the application now in view of the said material being available before this court'',the Court said.

Case Detail:

CRM(M) 572/2022 (Dilshad Sheikh and others vs Sabha Sheikh)

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