Hyderabad: The Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that in a cognizable offence the aggrieved party is the State not the victim.
Lawyers in criminal law say that a cognisable offence means a police officer has the authority to make an arrest without a warrant and start an investigation with or without the permission of a court.
Mr C. Nageswara Rao, former public prosecutor of the AP High Court, said the FIRs can be registered by a victim, a witness or someone else with knowledge of the crime.
As per the laws laid down under Section 154 of the CrPC. the complainant can give information about the offence either written or orally.
He said that the rule is that any person having knowledge of the commission of an offence can file a complaint, even though the concerned person is not personally interested or affected by the offence, except in cases of offences relating to marriage, defamation and offences mentioned in Sections 195 to 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Mr C. Mallesh Rao, criminal lawyer, said that the State has an obligation under the CrPC to take suo motu action whenever commission of a cognizable offence comes to its notice, and proceed to further investigate and apprehend the accused, collect evidence and file chargesheet and to prosecute the offender.
Mr Mallesh Rao said that preferring the treatment in private hospital by YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy after the attack on him was at his risk and he had the right to choose his place of treatment. For that matter any victim has the right to go for his choice of hospital for the treatment.
He said that if the investigation officer felt that the statement of the victim was essential for the case, they should make an application before the magistrate of the trial court concerned to record the statement of the victim under Section 154 of the CrPC.
Similarly the investigation officer can also make an application before the Magistrate to record the statement of the doctors of the private hospital who have treated the victim to place it as medical evidence.
