The Rajasthan High Court recently invalidated the DGP's fourth attempt to transfer the investigation of interconnected criminal cases. In doing so, Justice Birendra Kumar, presiding over a single-judge bench in Jaipur, emphasized that the right to a fair trial and a fair investigation is not exclusive to the accused but also extends to the rights of the victim.
Furthermore, the court pointed out that the DGP's order was in violation of administrative guidelines that restrict the transfer of a case to a maximum of three times. Additionally, the DGP did not provide any reasons or justification for the transfer of the investigation to the Crime Branch on June 13, 2023, as observed by the judge.
"It is evident that the order dated 13.6.2023 lacks any specific reason other than the DGP's directive for transferring the investigation. This is concerning, especially since the right to a fair investigation and a fair trial is a fundamental right that extends to the victim as well," noted the court.
In the High Court, the petitioner contended that the accused cannot insist on having the investigation conducted by an agency of their preference, a principle established in the case of Romila Thapar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. (2018).
As a result, the court ordered that the investigations in all six FIRs should be shifted to the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Jaipur, with oversight from the Commissioner of Police, Jaipur. The court has mandated that these investigations must be completed within a timeframe of two months, with a subsequent report to be submitted to the High Court.
In this case, the petitioner served as the informant for six First Information Reports (FIRs) that were filed in 2017 at various police stations in Jaipur. While these cases were initially under investigation by their respective police stations, some of the investigations were later transferred to the Special Operations Group (SOG), and others were transferred to the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) by the then Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of ATS/SOG. In the current miscellaneous petition, the petitioner, who was also the informant, alleged that the former ADGP exhibited bias in favor of the accused individuals. The petitioner contended that these transfers of investigations were a deliberate tactic to protect the accused. Furthermore, the petitioner claimed that all the FIRs resulted in negative reports due to undue influence exerted by the former ADGP
In response to numerous complaints and representations made by the petitioner, all of these cases were eventually transferred to the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Jaipur, by the former Director General of Police (DGP). Subsequently, the former Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of ATS/SOG took on the role of the DGP in the state of Rajasthan. In a new order dated 02.12.2022, the newly appointed DGP suspended the arrest of the accused individuals in the six FIRs. Dissatisfied with this order, the petitioner filed a writ petition seeking to annul the DGP's directive and to mandate further investigation through a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the Commissioner of Police.
The initial petition was resolved with an instruction for the petitioner to address any concerns related to a fair investigation with the appropriate Magistrate. The petitioner, asserting that the case had been concluded without giving them an opportunity to be heard, filed another criminal miscellaneous application with the High Court. Subsequently, in response to this new petition, the court invalidated the DGP's order dated 02.12.2022, describing it as a "blanket order without any reason." The court also requested the records of the investigations of the aforementioned FIRs and the arrests of the accused individuals.
On June 13, 2023, at the direction of the Director General of Police (DGP), the case was once again transferred for the fourth time, this time to the Crime Branch. The petitioner contested this order by filing a criminal miscellaneous application with the High Court.
Case: Tikam Khandelwal S/o Shri Mohan Khandelwal V. State of Rajasthan, S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 246/2023.
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