Supreme Court orders registration of FIR, SIT probe into alleged custodial death of Ahmedabad man

The Supreme Court’s directions came based on a petition filed by Shaikh’s son Tofik, after the Gujarat High Court declined to direct the state to register an FIR in the case while expressing concern over the legal limitations.

The Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana said that in case of an “unnatural death in police custody, a preliminary inquiry is required. If there is any incriminating material, an FIR has to be registered”.

The respondents to the petition were the State of Gujarat, the Police Inspector of Vejalpur Police Station, and the Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad.

The bench did not agree to the submission of Additional Solicitor General S V Raju that instead of an FIR, let there be a preliminary enquiry. Moreover, a magisterial inquiry was underway and a team of five doctors, who performed the autopsy, did not find any injury, the law officer said.

The counsel for the petitioner alleged that police were protecting the accused in the case, while the son of the deceased was also being threatened.

“We are satisfied that a prima facie case for the registration of an FIR without naming any suspect at this stage is made out. The FIR under BNS provisions shall be investigated by an SIT comprising DCP-rank officers alongwith two officers to be nominated by the DGP, Gujarat,” the bench ordered.

It directed the SIT to file the final report before the jurisdictional magistrate as soon as possible, preferably within three months.

“If the petitioner is dissatisfied, he shall be at liberty to submit a protest petition and seek further investigation, etc.,” the bench said.

It also asked the Ahmedabad police commissioner to inquire into the alleged threat perception to the petitioner and take “apt action”.

It has been alleged that the deceased was compelled to consume many diabetes pills. “What is most compelling is the dying declaration. It is an assault,” the bench said.

What petition says

The petition claimed that police personnel forcibly administered 30 to 40 tablets of prescription medicines to Shaikh, resulting in a fatal overdose.

It also alleged that before his death, the deceased made two dying declarations, one recorded in medico-legal papers at the SVP Hospital and another in two videos allegedly recorded by the petitioner, in which he named police personnel and described the alleged assault.

The petitioner said that despite these materials, no FIR was registered against the officers concerned.

The petition also alleged that repeated representations made to police authorities, including the commissioner of police, failed to result in the registration of an FIR and that the family was subjected to pressure to settle the matter.

Senior Advocate I H Syed, who appeared for the petitioner’s family, said, “The investigation is to be carried out by a Special Investigation Team headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) under the direct supervision of the Director General of Police (DGP).”

The Supreme Court’s intervention comes nearly two months after the Gujarat High Court declined to order registration of an FIR, holding that the petitioner was first required to exhaust the statutory remedies available under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

While dismissing the writ petition on May 29, the High Court had nonetheless made strong observations on the legal framework governing such cases, describing it as “ironic” that even an alleged violation of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench ruling in Lalita Kumari mandating registration of FIRs in cognisable offences could not be directly enforced through a writ petition because of the alternative statutory remedy doctrine.

(With PTI inputs)