The Gujarat High Court on Monday rejected a plea seeking contempt of court action against a police inspector for not filing an FIR against a Lok Sabha MP named in a note recovered from a man who committed suicide.
The court of Justice Ashutosh Shastri and Justice JC Doshi rejected on the grounds of maintainability the plea of Hitarth Chag, the son of Dr Atul Chug, who was found hanging from the ceiling of his house in Veraval in Gir Somanth district on February 12.
A note found in the deceased’s possession mentioned the name of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Rajesh Chudasama and the latter’s father, alleging the duo was responsible for the suicide.
The petitioner claimed his father had lent money to the MP and others since 2008 but they had not repaid these loans, causing him to end his life.
Hitarth Chug, who had moved court after the police refused to lodge an FIR for abetment of suicide against the MP and his father, had sought action against the inspector of Verawal Town police station for contempt of court for not following Supreme Court guidelines in the Lalita Kumar versus Government of Uttar Pradesh case on mandatory registration of FIR.
A Constitution Bench of Supreme Court in the 2008 Lalita Kumari versus Government of Uttar Pradesh case held that registration of FIR is mandatory under section 154 of Code of Criminal Procedure if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
If the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
The Supreme Court then issued the guidelines regarding the registration of FIR.
