III-Supervision of Cases.
53. Important cases. –
The expression “important case” includes any case relating to an alleged offence –
(i) which is a special report case (vide Appendix XV);
(ii) which is likely to lead to a breach of the peace or to other offences, e.g., a riot, not in itself important, may be likely to provoke reprisals;
(iii) in which persons of importance are involved ;
(iv) which is of an unusual or striking nature either in itself or because of its modus operandi, or
(v) in which a police officer is involved ;
and any case of a class which has been declared in writing by a superior officer to be important.
54. Supervision of criminal investigations. [§ 12, Act V, 1861].
– (a) An officer supervising the investigation of a criminal case should satisfy himself that –
(i) the investigation is being pushed through without delay ;
(ii) the investigation is thorough, i.e., that clues are not overlooked or important lines of enquiry neglected;
(iii) investigating officers do not work mainly for confessions or rely too much on any that are made, and that they use no sort of pressure and offer no sort of inducement to obtain confessions ;
(iv) the subordinate police are working honestly;
(v) the public are properly treated ; and
(vi) the prescribed procedure is followed.
(b) He shall on no account put pressure on investigating officers by injunctions to detect particular case or cases generally.
(c) The methods to be adopted by supervising officers are-
(i) visits to the place of occurrence at various stages of the investigation and personal examination, if necessary, of witnesses ;
(ii) careful scrutiny of case diaries and other papers connected with the investigation; and
(iii) examination of crime registers and other records at the police-stations.
(d) When a supervising officer discovers mistakes or omissions on the part of an investigating officer, he should point them out to him and should not call for a written explanation unless it appears likely to be necessary to inflict punishment.
(e) A Superintendent, an Assistant or a Deputy Superintendent, and (for his own circle only) a Circle Inspector have power to order an officer attached to any police-station to investigate a case that, under section 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, should be investigated by the officer-in-charge. of another police-station; but the power should be exercised sparingly and its exercise by an officer subordinate to a Superintendent should at once be reported to the Superintendent.
55. Supervision by Superintendents and other officers. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. –
(a) A Superintendent shall supervise the investigation of important special report cases and of all cases in which the conduct of subordinate police officers appears unsatisfactory. If, for special reasons, he is unable himself to supervise the investigation of any such case, he may depute an Assistant or Deputy Superintendent to do so.
(b) A Superintendent, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent who is supervising a case need not visit the place of occurrence unless such visit is likely to be of practical value.
(c) A Circle Inspector shall supervise every case within his circle, and he shall visit the place of occurrence and test the evidence in every such case that is of importance. In selecting cases for testing on the spot he should direct his attention particularly to cases of house-breaking, riot and grievous hurt and to other cases which have been reported as false or non-cognizable.
56. Supervising officers to give evidence, and to keep diaries. [§ 12, Act V, 1861].
(a) Officers who have supervised investigations of important cases should be encouraged to give evidence in Court regarding any important facts which have come to their notice during the investigations.
(b) An officer supervising an investigation shall keep a personal diary in the form prescribed for Inspectors in regulation 197 and shall note in the manner in which he supervised the investigation, any questions which he has put to a witness, any identification which took place in his presence and any other matters on which he may need to refresh his memory before giving evidence. This diary shall be kept in the officers’ personal custody.
(c) An officer who, while supervising a case, has himself taken part in an investigation shall, under section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, keep a case diary showing where and at what times he made the investigation. Only fresh developments which may take place during supervision should be noted in a case diary by the superior officer. It should also include any specific orders given by him. This diary shall form part of the main case diaries submitted by the Investigating Officer of the case
Police Regulations, Bengal – 1943