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No . / 3z'l UTIHAC dated Chandj.garh the' A/^?, A@Ajr
Subject: General reasons for acquittal of accused in Criminal cases
and suggestions to improve the quality of investigation.

find herewith suggestions to improve the

Enclosed please
quality of investigation issued from the Legal Remembrance r cum - _

Director of prosecution, chandigarh Admi.nistration vide its memo

No.
IOE - (2/2OL7 /A7) -2OZO/14a3-a4 dated 29.t.2O2O
for necessary action and
to ensure meticulous compliance.

,^"r"", *ffi/#t",
*{",
Dy. Superintend+t of potice (Hqrs.),
For Senior Superintelldent of police,
ur' chand
ropy to;
1. AII sDpos, Osp/Crime, Oprs, rot,l, hj&CSU & CCIC
*-/-.'LtL Computer Section to upload the same on the Website
of Chandigarh police.

Jrt t
4_, *fu
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 \,tl^L

From

The Principal Secretary (Law),

Chandigarh Administration. .t

To
,/l
\Y ),,1fhe Oieclot General of Police, _
';handrsarh Admrnrstratron' qu
ChandigarhAdministratron.
c pA
t lr-nlurl
The District Attorney(s),
u.r.,chandisarh.'-::-lr-*;:------
\t-'irffiOrrat6lt&
Memo No. LDE-(2i2017 t87)-2O2Or lLtgj'811 A
Dated, chandisarh the
)A/ n4-70k, W;.roro
^-t't-t'-t'- G:P._^
\lw Srbj".t, General reasons for acquittal of accused in criminal cases and
suqoestions to improve the quality of investigation.
-
ffi- --, --, ieference sublect quoted hereinabove.
qln'?b-4'
I Your goodself is hereby apprised that it has been observed that there
is acqLrittal of accused persons in criminal cases mainly due to the following reasons

IN NDPS CASES:
:.-- '(
and non sendrng the same lo the hrgher authonly as provided under
i,
qa .r
- ), r^1,
Section 42 of the Act.
2) - Non-joining of independent witnesses during the recording the disclosure
-
l'-,tltb)o
-..,rtta slatement ofthe accused as well as during the recovery of conlraband

II despite of their availability.

3) Non compliance of section 50 of the Act.
(i) Non serving of statuton/ notice upon the accused person.
(iD Serving of defective notice upon the accused.
(iii) Serving of joint notice upon the accused persons, where they are
two or more than two.
(iv) Non-read over the contents of notice to the accused person in case
of illiterate.

)
q (v) Non taking of separate consenl of illiterate accused w.r.t. informing

bJ .il )o)"2 the contents of the notice.

Io] 4) Non-preparing of CFSL form NO. 29 at the spot.
5) Delay in sending the samptes to the FSL.
6) Bearing of FIR and other particulars oi the case in the notices, recovery
memo and other documents despite of non registration of the FIR at thr't
time.
 RELEVANT JUDGMENTS ON NDPS ACT,
Sr. No. Judgments Section
1. Sukhdev Singh Vs. State of at (requtrednt of reduaing information in

Haryana, AIR 2013 Sc, 953. writing and send it to the superior office0.

2 Vijay Singh Chandubhas Section 50 (serving the notice upon the

Jadeja Vs. State of Gujrat, accused before conducting his Personal

AIR 2011 SC 77 (Five search)

Judges).
Arif Khan @ Agha Khan Vs.
State of Uttrakhand, Crl.

Appeal No. 273 ol .2007

decided on 27.04.2018.
The State of Punjab Vs.
Baljinder Singh Criminal
Appeal No. 5659-5660 ol
.
2019 on 15.10.2019 (APex
Court)
3 Gannu and another Vs. Bearing of FIR and other particulars ol me
State of Punjab Crl. Appeal case in the notices, recovery memo and other
No. 1688-S8 of 2004 documents despite of non registration of the
decided on 26.05.2017 (P FIR at that time.
&H)

lt*L
nl')"
Union of lndia Vs. Mohan Lal Drawing of sample
and another, 2016 (1) RCR supervision ol the magistrate,
in the presence and

(crl.) 858 (Sc)

5 Laltu Prasad Vs. State of Complainant himself acting as the investigating
West Bengal,2017 (2) RCR officer is the same person.
(Crl.) 237 Calcutta (DB)
Mohan Lal Vs. State of
Punjab 2018 AIR (SC) 3853
Varinder Kumar vs State of
Himachal Pradesh 2019 (1)
RCR (crl) 1003
6 Bhola Singh Vs. State of Non preparation of CFSL Form 29 on the spot
Punjab, 2005 (2) RCR (Crl)
520 (P & H)

Apart from the above, it is pertinent to mention herein that sometimes material
contradictions regarding the receiving of secret information preparation of the
documents quanlity of the contraband, types of used seal, handing over of the
 seal/custody, non-preparing of inventory by the officer in charge of the police staiion
and depositing of the case property have also become fatal to the prosecution case

IN THE CASES REGISTERED UNDER ELECTRICITY ACT

'1) Failing to join independent witnesses by the lnvestigation Officer during the
recording of disclosure of the accused/s and during the recovery of the copper
coils and other theft material despite of their availability.
2) Absence of any specific/particular identification marks on the copper coils and
other stolen property belonging to the Electricity Department, Chandigarh
Adminislration.
It is pertinent to mention herein that on one side the accused persons are
getting

acquittal in the above mentioned cases while on the other hand losses are being
caused to Electricity Department, Chandigarh Administration as neither the recoverv
of the loss caused could be made nor any action has been taken against the erring
official/ offters. For ready reference, the list of some cases has been enclosed
herewith.

rN THE CASES REGISTERED UNOER SFCTION 379/380/411 OF IPC:

1) Non-joining of the independent witness during the recording of

disclosure statement of accused persons and recovery of snatched

articles.

P'*/'
,1l,lP*
2) Non-conducting of test identification parade by l.O. to prove the identity
and involvement of the accused persons in the commission of offence
3) No{aking of documents from the complainant during investigation to
prove the ownership of snatched articles.
Apart from the above, it is pertinent to mention herein that sometimes material
contradictions regarding the receiving ol secret information, preparation of the

documents, types of used seal and depositing of the case property have also become
fatal to the prosecution case.

IN THE CASES REGISTERED UNDER THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND THE

SCHEDULED TRIBES (PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) ACT, 1989 ITHE
sc/sT (PoA) AcT. 19891
r) Turning Hostile of the Material Witnesses: Sometimes, the accused persons
were acquitted on the ground that the material witnesses te. the
comp ainant/victim/eye-witnesses did noi support the prosecution case and turned
hostile during evidence. The reasons for non-supporting to the prosecutton case
may be as under:
a) Victims are too poor to contest the case against dominant castes and rich
offenders Further, the accused persons are also applied local pressures
on the viclims/complainanywitnesses to make compromise in the matter
 b) Foisting false cases against victims at behest of perpetrators to pressurizes
them for compromises
c) Delay in investigation and low rate of conviction leading to victim's losing
hope of justice though registering cases.
d) Lack of awareness among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
about the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act
lr) Non-Conducting of the lnvestigation by Police Officers below the rank of
Deputy Superintendent of Police: Rule 7 of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995 provides that an offence committed
under the Act shall be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of a
Deputy Superintendent of Police. Non-compliance ol this rule during investigation
has proved fatal for the prosecution.
iii) Delay in filing the F.l,R.: Sometimes, delay in lodging the First lnformation Report
(F.l.R.) was also proved fatal for the case of the prosecution and sole reason for
acquittal of the accused persons. However, there was no hard and fast rule in
application of the "F.l.R. delay rule", in some cases, a delay of even six hours
proved fatal for the prosecution's case, whereas in other cases a time interval of a
couple of days was not a ground for acquittal.
iv) Victim does not helong to SC/STs Categories: Sometimes, the accused were
acquitted on.the ground that the victim did not belong to the SC/STs Categories
,)&", Material contradictions/discrepancies in tho statement of wilnesses:
,11,1*- Sometirnes, the material contradictions in the statement of witnesses regarding
occurrence of the incident, preparation of documents, contents of
the

application/complaint etc. has also proved fatal for the prosecution case which
resulted in the acquittal of the accused persons.

lN THE CASES REGISTERED UNDER THE PUNJAF EXCISE ACT. ',l914

t, Non-mentioning of the departure and arrival time in the DD Register i.e. Register
No. ll (Rojnamcha) of the Police Station.
Non-joining of the independent witnesses by the lnvestigating Officer despite of
their availability at the spot.
iii. Non-seizing of the broken nip (broken wine/liquor bottle) by the lnvestigaiing
Officer. ln.absence of the same, it becomes impossible to prove the fact of
drinking liquor by the accused person at public place as smell of alcohol alone is
not sufficient to prove the consumption of l-iquor at a public place.
V Non-mentioning of the type of seal affixed on seized articles/property i.e. whether
il was made of wooden, brass or silver etc.
Non-using of the scientific/latest techniques i.e. photography, videography etc at
the time of preparation of spot memo, seizing of articles, drawing of samples etc.
 vi. Non-submitting of any evidence alongwith in the nature of documentary entries of
the required DD entries to establish lhe presence of the police officials at the
spot.
vii. Delay in sending samples to the laboratory for chemical examination'
police
viii. Non-loining of the Excise Officer in the investigating proceedings when the
join the Excise
official has secret information and ample opportunity to inform and
Otficer.
Non-submitting of any document along with the challan to prove that the place
of occurrence was a public place where the accused person consumed the liquor'

IN OTHER CASES:
'1) Non-maintaining ofthe case diaries properly
2) Non-recording of the reasons for the delay in lodging of FIR'
3) Non-preserving of viscera samples, in cases where poisoning is

suspected.
4) Delay in sending the samples to the FSL for examination
5) Non-taking ot blood samples of the accused of the rape or other sexual
offences for making DNA profiling with semen lound on the cloth of the
prosecutrix.

6) Nonjollowing the procedure at the time of seizure of the material

objects/articles^reapon etc. recovered during the investigation'

/)1"'l 7) Non-production of the pistol/gun/ weapon used in the commission of the
,r1,y'- offence before the District Magistrate at the time of taking requisite
sanction.
8) Delay in sending /non-sending ofthe weapon for examination
9) Non-collecting of Certificate under section 65-8 of lndian Evidence Act to
prove thq electronic evidence.
1O) Nqn following of the procedure prescribed under Rule I of the Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 20'16 especially
regarding registration of FIR and interview of the child in conflict with law
involved in various criminal offences.
11) Non compliance of the provisions of Section 195 of Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973.
12) On receipt of secret information from the informer by the Police
Omcial/Otficer about commission of the offence or likely to be commit the
offence by the accused persons the police officials are acting themselves
as complainant as well as lnvestigating Officer both instead of sending
message lo the concerned Station House Officer (S.H.O.) for deputing
another police official for conducting investigation even in the cases
where there was ample opportunity for deputing another police official as
r.q
 13) Non-using of the scientific/latest techniques ie. photography,
videography etc. during investigation by the investigaiing officer at the
time of preparation oi spot memo, seizing of articles, drawing of samples
etc.
14) Non-conducting of Test ldentification Parade (TlP) by the lnvestigating
Officer in the cases where the name of accused persons or their
descriptions has not been mentioned by the complainant in their

comPlaint.
15) Non-collection of the Certificate under section 65-8 of lndian Evidence
Act to prove the eleclronic records where any information is contained in
an Electronic record which is in printed on a paper, stored, record or
copied in optical or magnelic media produce by computer such as
CD/Pen Drive/Floppy Drive/Portable Hard DisuMemory Card etc.
16) Non-seizure of the mobile phones used in th€ commission ol the offence
by the l.O. during the investigation and non-collecting of the call details of
the same from the concerned authorilies.

SUGGE9TIONS:
The following suggestions may be adopted and implemented to improve the
, qualrty of investrgation and enhance the conviction rate in the State of Haryana
/,t td
r
- I

P rN Npps cAsEs:
''ttI ll 2">'
,4 i The lnvestigation officer shall mention the time and place in all the document
/ such as nolices, memo etc. prepared during the investigation
ii That the lnvestigation Officer shall also mention the type of seal affixed on the
case property i.e whether used seal of wooden, brass or silver.
iii. That the Station House Officer (SHO) shall mention the date, time and place
in the document when the lnvestigation Officer has produced accused and
case property before him.
iv. That lnvestigation Officer shall also mention the time of arrival and
department of the Gazetted Otficer in the police zimini.
v. That the lnvestigation Officer shall ensue that sample should be drawn in the
presence ol the accused under the supervision of the Ld. lllaqa Magistrate.
vi. That special training program and seminars should be organized for imparting
training to the police offlcials/lnvestigation Officers.
vii. That the lnvestigation Officer shall ensure that the samples drawn should be
sent to the FSL without any delay.
viii. That the lnvestigation Officer shall ensure that the proper link evidence is
available in support of the prosecution case.

IN THE CASES REGISTEREO UNDER SECTIONS 379/380/41I OF IPC:

 i
The lnvestigating Officer shall mention the time and place in all the I

documents prepared during the investigation.

The sincere effort shall be made by lnvestibating Officer' ,or joining the
independent witness when they are available and should note down the
name and addresses of the persons who refused to joln it or should

mention the reason for not taking the action against them
iii. That the lnvestigating Offlcer shall get conduct of test identification parade
to ensure the identity and involvement of the accused persons in the
commission of the offence.
iv. That the lnvestigating Officel shall take the documents from the

complainant relating to the ownership of the snatched article.

That the lnvestigating Offlcer while effecting recovery shall ensure the
presence of complainant or an independent witness.

IN THE CASES REGISTERED UNDER THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND THE

On receipt of a representation/ compliant pertaining to any offence under the

provisions of the SCs/ STs (POA) Act either in writing or orally at the Police
Station, the Officers-in-charge shall register a case under the appropriate
Sections of the SC & ST (POA) Act without any delay so that appropriate
t)/"il' action may be taken against accused persons and investigation may be
conducted effectively.
"1')*
I (ii) Allthe cases of 'atrocities' shall be investigated by the police officer not below
the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police so that compliance of the Rule 7
of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules,
1995 may be made. ln case the appointed lnvestigating Officer is transferred
out, any another Deputy Superintendent of Police is to be appointed as
lnvestigating Officer.
(iii) The Statements of material witnesses i.e. the complainant, victims and eye-
witnesses shall be recorded before the magistrate as far as possible/
practicable.
(iv) The police shall provide protection to the victims as well as to the witness till
the completion of investigation and trial of the cases, where it requires.
(v) The lnvestigating Officer shall made mmpliance of all statutory provisions of
the act in its true spirit.
(vi) The atrocities prone areas/ villages shall be identified in order to enable
themselves to take adequate prevonting measuies well in time and they shall
be visited from time to time and the Law and Order situation in such areas
shall be reviewed.
(vii) The investigation shall be completed within stipulated period as prescribed in
the Act.
 (viii) The lnvestigating Otficer shall make an attempt to gather evidence to the
effect that the accused persons were aware of the viclim's caste at the time of
committrng the offence
(ix) Summons on the Police Officers lo give their evidence shall be seNed
promptly and it shall be ensured by the supervisory officers that they do

attend the Court to givqtheir evidence.

(x) Police shall assist the Courts in bringing foMard the witnesses/ accused
promptly to ensure smooth and expeditious trial of the case
(x) The concerned authority must initiate appropri;ie disciplinary action against
the lnvdstigating Officers for the lapses pointed out by the Ld Trial Court in
the judgment.
(xii) Awareness Campaign in the identified areas shall be organized from time to
time to educate/aware the SCs/STs about their rights and protections
available to them under different enactments.
(xiii) lntensive training programmes should be organized for increasing levels of
awareness among the lnvestigation Officers to the provisions of the Act and
rules made therein.
(xiv) Sensitization workshops shall be organized to help the police personnelto get
closer to the public and to be sensitive towards them.
r"'1 The District Level l\,4onitoring Committee shall review periodical progress in
flrc* investigation and trial of the cases; to review the Final RePorts and take
*l'lo- appropriate decision at their level keeping the fgllowing points in view among
other things.
a) Whether the lnvestigating Otficer has examined all the eye witnesses and
recdrded their statement during investigation especially those who have
been cited in the complaint by ihe complainant.
b) Whether the lnvestigating Officer has collected the Caste C€rtificate of the
complainant and accused.
c) Whether opinion of the concerned A.P.E /SPL. PP/ PP have been
obtained.
d) Whether the lnvestigation Officer so appointed under Rule 7 (1) of SC/ST
(POA) Rules, 1995 had completed the investigation within stipulated
period.

i The lnvestigating Officer shall mention the departure and arrivaltime in the DD
Register i.e. Register No. ll (Rojnamcha) of the Police Station and also submit
copy of the concerned entries mentioned in the DD Register i.e. Register No. ll of
the Police Station along with other evidence/documents in Challan i.e. repod
prepared under section 173 Cr.P.C. so that the presence of the Police officials
may be established at spot.
 t. The lnvestigating Officer shall make sincere efforts to loin independent witnesses
during investigation and shall also take necessary action against the persons
who refused to join the investigation as per law.
iii The lnvestigating Officer shall selze the broken nip (broken wine/liquor bottle) so
that the fact of drinking liquor by the accused person at public place may be
proved as smell of alcohol alone is not sufficient to prove the consumption of
Liquor at a public place.
tv. The lnvestigating Officer shall mention the type of seal affixed on seized
articles/property i.e. whether it was made of wooden, brass or silver etc
The lnvestigating Officer shall use the scientific/latest techniques ie.
photography, videography etc. at the time of preparation of spot memo, seizing ol
articles, drawing oI samples etc.
The lnvestigating Officer shall submit evidence alongwith in the nature of
documentary entries of the required DD entries i.e, Register No. ll (Rojnamcha)
so that then fact of the presence of the police olficials at lhe spot may be
established.
The lnvestigating Officer shall send samples to the laboratory for chemical
examination without any delay.
. r viii The lnvestigating Officer shall join the Excise Officer in the investlgating
Pk^r proceedings when the police official has secret information and ample
,1 I t
l)'- opportunity to inform and join the Excise Oflicer.
The lnvestigating Otficer shall submit relevant document alongwith the challan to
prove that the place of occurrence was a public place where the accused person
consumed the liquor and also cite the concerned ofiicial/officer from whom such
document was taken.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
l. Every arrangement should be made to observe that the case diaries are
maintained properly.
The statement of all material witnesses to grave offences such as murder, rape,
dacoity etc shall be recorded in the presence of the higher police officials or
before magistrate.
r. Reasons for the delay in lodging of FIR recording should, be recorded.
iv. Blood samples of the accused of the rape or other sexual offences should be
laken by the doctor for making DNA profiling with semen found on the cloth of
Ihe prosecutlx.
v. Cert licate under section 65-8 of lndian Evidence Act should be collected to
prove the electronic evidence.
vi. The pistol/gun/ weapon used in the commission of the offence before the
Dislrict lvlagistrate should be produced at the tirne of taking requisite sanction. .

vii. The samples taken shall be send to FSL for examination without any detay.
 .
of
vIl lntensive training programmes sh9uld be organized for increasing llevels
pfovisions of laws ie
awareness among investigating officers relating to the
IPC and Cr.P.C, special procedures and on regular basis These training
programmes shall also include aptitude test as an important component
of the

content
Public-police orientated proqrammes shall be organized to help
ix. the police
'
pe.sonnel to get closer to the pu blic and to be sengitive towards them'
Police Officiauofficer
On receipt of secrel information from the informer by the
by the
about commission of the offence or likely to be commit the offence
accused persons, the police officials shall send message to the
concerned
police officialfor conducting
Station House Officer (S.H O.) for deputing another
for
investigation as far as possible/practicable where there is ample opportunity
police official shall
deputing another police official as lnvestigating Officer and
both'
avoid to act themselves as complainant as well as lnvesligating Ofticer
xi. The lnvestigating Officer shall uso the scientific/latest techniques i'e'
preparation of
photography, videography etc. during investigation at the time of
spot memo, seizing of articles, drawing of samples etc'
(TlP) in the
xli The lnvestigating Offlcer shall conduct Test ldentification Prade
has not been
cases where the name of accused Persons or their descriptions
nrentioned by the complainant in their complaint' ,,
xl i. The lnvestigating Officer shall collect the Certificate under section 65-8 of
lndian Evidence Act to prove the electronic records where any information i6
contained in an Electronic record which is in printed on a paper, stofed, record
or copied in optical or magnetic media produce by computer such as CD/Pen
Drive/Floppy Drive/Portable Hard DisUMemory Card etc so that such

evidences and its authentication could be proved.

xiv. The lnvestigating Otficer shall seize tFe mobile phones used in the
commission of the otfence during the investigation and the call details of the
same shall also be taken from the concerned authorities without any delay
along with certificate issued under sectron 65-8 of the lndian Evidence Act,
citing such person as witness in the list of witnesses froln whom the call details
has been taken into possession and the person who issued the certiflcate
,ssued under section 65-B of the lndian Evidence Act.
ln view of above, it is therefore requested to consider the aforesaid

reasons acquittal, suggestions therelo and issue necess,ary directions to your

of
subordinate officials/officers, so that a strong case may be put before the Ld Criminal

Legal Remembrancer-cum-
Director of Prosecution.
For Principal Secretary (Law)
Chandioarh Administration
24 I il )'^')-