In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India on August 14 stayed the Allahabad High Court’s directive requiring Uttar Pradesh police to obtain legal opinions from government counsel before registering First Information Reports (FIRs) in cases that appear to be civil or commercial disputes. The stay order was issued by a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice C.T. Ravikumar and Justice Sanjay Karol.
The bench was hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Uttar Pradesh Government challenging the Allahabad High Courtโs order dated April 18, 2024. The High Court had directed the state police to consult with District Government Counsel or Deputy District Government Counsel in cases where the registration of an FIR was sought under certain sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the dispute appeared to be of a civil or commercial nature.
The specific sections of the IPC mentioned in the High Court’s order include Sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document). According to the High Court, legal opinion should be sought in these cases to determine whether the matter was indeed criminal in nature or merely a civil dispute disguised as a criminal complaint.
Moreover, the High Court had instructed that if police officers failed to seek legal opinions in such cases, they could be held liable for contempt of court. The directives were to be applied to FIRs registered after May 1, 2024.
Additionally, the High Court had mandated that magistrates should only direct the registration of FIRs under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) after ensuring that no prior civil dispute was pending between the involved parties. The High Court expressed concern that trial courts were acting merely as intermediaries by forwarding complaints to the police for FIR registration without properly scrutinizing the nature of the dispute.
In response to these directives, the Supreme Court bench stated, “Operation and implementation of paragraphs 15 to 17 of the impugned order dated 18.4.2024 passed in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 5948/2024 stand stayed till the next date of listing.”
Also Read
This stay effectively puts on hold the High Courtโs directions, allowing the standard procedure for FIR registration to continue without the additional requirement of seeking legal counsel in such cases. The Supreme Court’s stay will remain in effect until the matter is heard further.
Case Reference: State of U.P. & Ors. v. Sone Lal & Ors., SLP (Crl) Diary No. 24766/2024.
