Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh
(2008) 7 SCC 164 : (2008) 3 SCC (Cri) 17 : (2008) 2 SCC (L&S) 401
In the Supreme Court of India
WP (Crl.) 68/2008
Before Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice G.S. Singhvi
Decided on July 14, 2008

Relevancy of the Case: Uploading Supreme Court orders on its website to expedite the filing of replies

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 154, 157(1), 190, 200)
• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 4)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner submitted a written report before the local police station, which sat tight over the matter. Thereafter, she moved before the Office of the Superintendent of Police, who directed the registration of the FIR. However, a considerable amount of time had passed since the occurrence of the offence (kidnapping), and no FIR had been registered until then.
• Even after registering the FIR, authorities did not take steps to apprehend the accused or recover the minor girl child.

Opinion of the Bench

• It has become apparent that police authorities do not register FIRs unless directed to do so by the competent court.
• If delinquent officers fail to register FIRs on time and/or take the specified steps, the concerned Magistrate may initiate contempt proceedings against them, punishing them for violating orders. The Magistrate should impose stringent penalties, including imprisonment, justifying disciplinary action by the authority.

Final Decision

• The bench passed directions for notifying the Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories and the Directors General of Police/Commissioners of Police. The bench further instructed that the order be posted on the Supreme Court of India’s website for swift response filing.

Aditi Mangesh Sawant, an undergraduate student at NMIMS Kirit P Mehta School of Law, Mumbai, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2024.