Mumbai, Jun 26 The Bombay High Court has expressed its displeasure with police authorities for not providing copies of complaint or FIR to the accused persons which is legally mandated, and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on a police officer in Palghar district.
A bench of acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad, in its order passed on Thursday, said copies of the complaints are legally required to be supplied to the accused.
The court was hearing a petition filed by few persons against whom an FIR pertaining to an economic offence was registered with the Wada police station in Palghar district. They claimed that they appeared before the police and sought copies of the FIR but the Station House Officer (SHO) of Wada police station did not provide them the copies.
The bench noted in its order that it has come across several such petitions where persons against whom cases are lodged are compelled to approach court as the police authorities refuse to provide them with the complaint or FIR copies.
The bench imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the SHO of the Wada police station and directed him to deposit the amount in the court from his salary within two weeks.
The court also ordered the police to hand over copies of the FIR to the petitioner within five days.
