An analysis of final reports under the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 and The Bombay Police Manual, 1959

In this paper, I will be explaining final reports, also known as A, B, and C Summary Reports, under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (‘The Code’) and the Bombay Police Manual, 1959, Volume III (‘The Manual’). This paper does not deal with charge-sheets. This paper would be helpful to those who practice criminal law in the state of Maharashtra.

Introduction:

Section 2(r)[1] of The Code exhaustively defines police report as a report forwarded by a police officer to a Magistrate under section 173(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. A police report is filed on completion of investigation by the police. Police reports are broadly of two categories – a. Charge-sheets (Rule 218 of The Manual) and b. Final Reports (Rule 219 of Police Manual).  Final report is explained under Rule 219 of The Manual.

Rule 219 of The Manual:

219. Final Reports.- (1) When there is no sufficient evidence to justify the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate, the Police Station Officer or the investigating officer will release the accused person on bail, if he is in custody.

(2) The Police Station Officer will then submit a final report to the Magistrate empowered to take cognisance of an offence on a Police report through the Superintendent of Police or the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, as the case may be, in the following three classes of cases: -

(a) Those in which it appears from the Police investigation that no offence has been committed.

 (b) Those in which it appears from the Police investigation that only a non-cognisable offence has been committed.

(c) Those in which there are grounds for believing that an offence has been committed, but in which, in the opinion of the officer-in-charge of the police Station, there are not sufficient grounds to investigate or there is not sufficient evidence to justify sending anyone for trial, or in which the offender is not known or cannot be arrested and sent for trial.

In cases referred to the Police by a Magistrate, the final report will be sent direct to the Magistrate.

(3) The final report should be written up carefully by the officers in-charge of the Police Station personally and should be accompanied by all the case papers numbered and indexed methodically. If the accused has been released on bail, the Magistrate should be requested to cancel the bail bond. He should also be requested to pass orders regarding the disposal of property attached, unless any of the articles, e. g., blood stained clothes, are required for further use in true but undetected cases. A request should also be made to the Magistrate to classify the case and to issue an appropriate summary of his order, viz. :-

"A' True, undetected (where there is no clue whatsoever about the culprits or property or where the accused in known but there is no evidence to justify his being sent up to the Magistrate (for trial).

"B" Maliciously false.

"C" Neither true nor false, e. g., due to mistake ot fact or being of a civil nature.

"Non-cognisable" Police investigation reveals commission of only a non-cognizable offence.

(4) A Superintendent of Police or a Sub-Divisional Officer is not bound to forward a final report to the Magistrate immediately. He may of his own motion direct further enquiry or he may for special reasons permit a case to remain pending under investigation.

(5) When any further investigation is ordered and made subsequent to the submission of the final report the papers should, at each stage up to final disposal, be sent though the Superintendent of Police or the Sub-Divisional Officer. In urgent cases however, the Magistrate may return the papers, direct to the investigating officer.

(6) When a final report of an officer-in-charge of a Police Station is returned to him for further investigation or other purpose, the date of the submission of the final report in its last and complete form should be taken as the date of its submission to the Magistrate for the purpose of determining, the beginning of the period of 14 days within which a summary of the Magistrate's final order should be sent.

(7) It is not competent to a Magistrate to return investigating officer's report made to him under Section 173, Criminal Procedure Code, with an order to make a case against the accused and to send it up for trial. If the Magistrate considers that there is a prima facie case against the accused he should take action under Section 204 of the Code.

As we can see, a final report is filed by the concerned officer[2] when there is no sufficient evidence to justify the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate and when it appears from the investigation that there is either no offence committed, or only a non-cognisable offence has been committed, or in cases in which although an offence seems to have been committed, but in which there are insufficient grounds to investigate or insufficient evidence to send anyone for trial or cases in which the offender is not known or cannot be arrested or sent for trial.

Sub-rule (3) states that the final report should be written up carefully and methodically by the concerned police officer, as prescribed by law. On submission of the final report to a Magistrate, a request should also be made to classify the case as either A, B, or C and to issue an appropriate summary of his order.

A – True, undetected (Where there is no clue whatsoever about the culprits or property or where the accused is known but there is no evidence to justify his being sent up to the Magistrate (for trial).

B – Maliciously false.

C – Neither true nor false, eg. due to mistake of fact or being of a civil nature.

Among the three, the most common classification is the C classification, especially in white collar crimes such as cheating or forgery or in property disputes.

Final Reports are filed under section 173 of The Code.

Steps taken by a Magistrate on submission of a final report by the police officer:

On receipt of a final report by a Magistrate and upon a judicial examination of the same, the Magistrate may:

a.   Accept the report as it is and classify the case under A, B, or C summary as explained above.

b.  Direct further investigation.

c.   Take cognizance of the offence and proceed against the Accused under section 204[3] of The Code.

We shall now examine the several courses of action available to the Magistrate as mentioned above:

1.  In case of option ‘a’, before the Magistrate drops the proceedings, he has to issue a notice to the informant before he can pass any orders and classifying the case as aforesaid. This principle was laid down by a full bench of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police[4]. This is because the right of the informant would be affected if he does not get a chance to be heard before the proceedings initiated by him against the accused are dismissed.

2.  In case of option ‘b’, the Magistrate can direct further investigation if he is not satisfied with the report filed by the police and in such a case, the police officer shall investigate further and file another report. The powers of the Magistrate to direct further investigation can also be exercised suo moto until the trial commences, as has been recently held by the Hon’ble Apex Court in Vinubhai Haribhai Malaviya and ors. v. State of Gujarat and anr.[5]

3.  In case of option ‘c’, the Magistrate will proceed under section 204 of The Code and then proceed with the trial against the accused.

Contents of the final report:

As stated in The Manual, the police officer must carefully and meticulously write up the police report and it cannot be done is a half-hearted or casual manner. In Shahnaj Taj Mohammad Hashmi and anr. v. Senior Inspector of Police and anr.[6], the High Court of Bombay has recently held, ‘It may be mentioned that filing of the final report is not an empty formality. Such report should contain all the details for not sending the accused for trial, as to enable the Magistrate to decide what course to adopt i.e. whether to accept the report and discharge the bonds or order further investigation or to take cognisance of the offence. In the instant case, the report reveals that the concerned Investigating Officer/officer-in-charge of the police station had not filled up all the required details pertaining to these petitioners and in fact, most of the columns have been left blank. The concerned Police Officer has also not disclosed the reasons for not sending the aforesaid petitioners for trial and has not made request to classify the case and issue an appropriate summary viz. "A", "B" or "C" Summary. The final report is filed in a most cursory manner and is not in consonance with the provisions of Cr.P.C. as well as the Rules under Bombay Police Manual.’

 Section 169 vis-a-vis section 173 of The Code:

Section 169[7] contemplates releasing of an accused on bail if he is in custody, if the police officer there is no sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion against the accused to justify forwarding him to a Magistrate. This section does not contemplate submission of a report to the Magistrate as is contemplated under section 173 of The Code as held in Shahnaj Hashmi (supra.), ‘From the aforesaid provisions and the principles laid down by the Apex Court, it is clear that release of the accused under Section 169 of Cr.P.C. cannot be equated with filing a report under Section 173, Cr.P.C., which has to be filed after completion of investigation. In fact, Section 169, Cr.P.C. does not contemplate filing of such report. All that Section 169, Cr.P.C stipulates is the release of the accused upon taking bonds (with or without surety) to appear before the Magistrate when so required, when there is no sufficient material to send the accused for trial. Whether the accused is released on bonds under Section 169, Cr.P.C. and sent for trial under Section 170, Cr.P.C., upon completion of investigation the police officer has to submit the report under Section 173, Cr.P.C. which would include a chargesheet under Rule 218 and a final report under Rule 219 of Bombay Police Manual. It is only upon filing of the report under Section 173 which would include final report under Rule 219 of Bombay Police Manual, that the Magistrate has to either agree with the report and discharge the bond, or not agree with the police report and order further investigation, or in the alternative take cognizance of the offence complained of. In the light of above provisions and principles, the procedure allegedly followed by the investigating agency in submitting the closure report under Section 169 of Cr.P.C. against the aforesaid petitioners is apparently not in consonance with the provisions of law.’

 Hence, a police officer can only file a final report under section 173 of The Code.

Conclusion:

It is pertinent to take note of these nuances concerning police reports and final reports filed by police officers on completion of investigation. We often see A, B, and C Summary Reports but ponder about their non-existence in the Criminal Procedure Code and where they are mentioned. We must also be aware of the recourses available to a Magistrate when such reports are filed. I hope this paper gives all of you a basic understanding of final reports under the provisions of The Code and The Manual.

[1] Section 2(r) - “police report” means a report forwarded by a police officer to a Magistrate under sub-section (2) of section 173

[2] Section 2(o) - “officer in charge of a police station” includes, when the officer in charge of the police station is absent from the station-house or unable from illness or other cause to perform his duties, the police officer present at the station-house who is next in rank to such officer and is above the rank of constable or, when the State Government so directs, any other police officer so present

[3] Section 204 - Issue of process.—(1) If in the opinion of a Magistrate taking cognizance of an offence there is sufficient ground for proceeding, and the case appears to be— (a) a summons-case, he shall issue his summons for the attendance of the accused, or (b) a warrant-case, he may issue a warrant, or, if he thinks fit, a summons, for causing the accused to be brought or to appear at a certain time before such Magistrate or (if he has no jurisdiction himself) some other Magistrate having jurisdiction. (2) No summons or warrant shall be issued against the accused under sub-section (1) until a list of the prosecution witnesses has been filed. (3) In a proceeding instituted upon a complaint made in writing, every summons or warrant issued under sub-section (1) shall be accompanied by a copy of such complaint. (4) When by any law for the time being in force any process-fees or other fees are payable, no process shall be issued until the fees are paid and, if such fees are not paid within a reasonable time, the Magistrate may dismiss the complaint. (5) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the provisions of section 87.

[4] AIR 1985 SC 1285

[5] AIR 2019 SC 5233

[6] 2017 All M.R. (Cri.) 2265

[7] Section 169. Release of accused when evidence deficient.—If, upon an investigation under this Chapter, it appears to the officer in charge of the police station that there is not sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate, such officer shall, if such person is in custody, release him on his executing a bond, with or without sureties, as such officer may direct, to appear, if and when so required, before a Magistrate empowered to take cognisance of the offence on a police report, and to try the accused or commit him for trial.