Telangana High Court Upset Over Faulty Probe Mechanism

Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court expressed dissatisfaction over the faulty investigation mechanism following by the state and the department in investigating crime, stating that it was undermining the integrity of the criminal justice system. The court remarked that it was nothing but violation of the fundamental rights of citizens if the investigation was not done fairly.

A division bench of Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice N. Tukaramji made the remarks while acquitting a DRDO official who was arrested in 2017 and convicted to life imprisonment in 2020 for the alleged rape of a teen after which she became pregnant.

The court sought an independent supervising mechanism to monitor the quality of investigation and provide constructive feedback to enhance transparency and public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Justice Koshy and Justice Tukaramji also pointed out that the flawed investigation was leading to prolonged trials, re-trials, appeals and legal challenges, resulting in wastage of resources and delays in justice delivery which in turn affected the citizen’s faith in the criminal justice system.

The bench expressed worry over the narrow focus of the agencies in conducting the investigation. It said that the approach was firstly one of emotional bias or under extraneous influence. Secondly, evidence was brought on record to deliberately present a superficial investigation.

“In either case, the greatest victim is the criminal justice administration. The aftermath may result in wrongful conviction of the innocent or letting the real culprits go scot-free, which transforms the actual perpetrator into an ongoing threat,” Justice Tukaramji said.

The High Court pointed out that the “tunnel vision” of the police or investigating teams prematurely centred on the projected suspect, without adequately exploring the other relevant aspects. This was the one of the defective parts of the investigation and was causing damage to the criminal justice system.

“Any premature conclusions by the investigating team or procedural lapses can jeopardise the integrity of the case and potentially lead to miscarriage of justice,” the High Court observed.

The court viewed that numerous responsibilities laid on the police authorities other than investigations, would degrade the quality. Therefore, maintaining a dedicated team with sufficient number of trained and designated personnel specifically for conducting investigations in defined fields and clearly fixing responsibility on the investigating officer assigned to a case was crucial. This should be taken up on priority, the court opined.

The High Court also observed that “manufactured” criminal cases not only undermined justice administration but also actively destroyed the individual’s dignity, infringes upon rights and erodes opportunities, often without accountability for those responsible for the false accusations.

The bench was dealing with an criminal appeal filed by Col Rishi Sharma, who worked for the DRDO and had been convicted to life by a trial court on charges of raping a 19-year-old girl and making her pregnant. The trial court agreed with the police report and convicted him, without going into material facts.

It was found that a sterilisation certificate dated 02.09.2005 had been issued by the Government of India which proved that Col Sharma had undergone a vasectomy surgery on 30.06.2005, which showed his inability to cause pregnancy. He was also drawing family planning allowances.

Further, the High Court pointed to the failure of the police in proving the case from a DNA analysis report connecting the alleged foetus of the complainant to Col Sharma. The police had failed to collect and send the product of conception (foetus) sample if any to FSL promptly.

The conception (foetus) sample sent to the FSL itself was too putrefied to perform the DNA analysis report. Based on other reports and facts, the High Court set aside the conviction and faulted the flaws in the investigation.