SOP Station House Management by Kerala Police

82 7. PETITION ENQUIRIES & REPORTS
whether any facts have been
brought out and such facts
should be verified during further
investigations. In a case
already registered. If a petition
is received subsequently,
it should forward to the concerned
Magistrate whether it
has any legal value. A copy of
the petition should be kept in
the case file, further investigations
made and the facts disclosed
should be incorporated
in the case diaries.
In a case already registered,
if a petition is received
direct, either from a member
of the public or from a superior,
the fact that a case was
already registered should be
intimated to thè petitioner or
superior officer. If the petition
is received from a superior,
the original petition should be
returned to the superior while
retaining a copy. If the petition
received from the superior,
is a copy, there is no need
to return the petition.
If a case is registered on
receipt of petition from superior,
a report should be sent
to him about registration of
the case and a copy of the
FIR should be enclosed to the
report and the same procedure
shall be adopted when
petitions are received directly
from members of the public.
As per thee provisions in section
154 CrPC the officer-incharge
of a police station is
bound to furnish a copy of the
information given to him free
of cost.
7.2 Petition Enquiry
Procedure
In conducting enquiries into a
petition, the petitioner should
be first called and his statement
recorded. The enquiring
officer should elicit from the
petitioner whether any offence
was committed, or any offence
is apprehended. If it appears
that a cognizable offence was
committed, a case should be
registered and investigated.
The FIR shall include the contents
of the petition and the
statement. In case, the statement
does not make out a cognizable
offence, or an offence
is apprehended by the petitioner,
the witnesses named
by the petitioner should be
summoned and their statements
be recorded. On completion
of enquiries, the officer
would be in a position
to know, whether the petition
warrants any action, a report
about the enquiries should be
forwarded to superior in case
a report was called for.
The enquiry reports
should contain
(1) Name of the petitioner,
residence, date of petition
(2) name and address of
the counter petitioner
(3) Allegations made in
the petition
(4) The evidence collected
during the enquiry in support
of allegations, the witnesses
examined, statements
recorded
(5) Action taken, if any, on
receipt of petition or during
the course of enquiry
(6) The explanation i.e.,
admission or denial of counter
petitioner and the evidence
produced by him and
(7) Findings of enquiry officer
with background or earlier
disputes if any, and the action
he proposes.
As far as possible, the
report should be brief, connected
to the allegations and
should not be based on imaginations
or presumptions. The
language of the report should
be simple as far as possible
and conveniently divided into
paragraphs avoiding repetition
of a point once referred,
before. The enquiry should be
completed as quickly as possible
and report sent without
any delay and without being
reminded.
The officers should fix up
priority to petition enquiries
and reports. The priority
could be petition received as
follows:-
1) Governor and Chief
Minister
2) Home Minister and
other Ministers.
3) Chief Secretary and
Home Secretary.
4) Members of Parliament
or State Assembly.
5) Director General of Police.
6) Inspectors General of
Police.
7) DIG of Range.
8) District Police Chief
9) Dy. Superintendent of
Police and Inspectors.
The priority would change
depending on the nature of allegations
and urgency of action
to be taken. By any
chance, an enquiry is likely to
be delayed due to other urgent
engagements; an interim
report should be sent to the
concerned, that the petition is
being enquired and that a report
would be sent by a particular
date or within so many
days. It shall be the duty of
the officer to send the final report
as promised.
7.3 PETITION
ENQUIRY
(Kerala Police Act :
circular No. 1/1973)
Sec.63;