Case Diaries Are Not To Be Accepted With Io’s Certification: Allahabad HC Directs Advocate General

FACTS OF THE CASE

• The Court was hearing a plea of a constable who was accused under the POCSO Act.
• The Constable alleged that he was at the place of his duty when the crime occurred.
• He placed his reliance upon the information received by him under the Right to Information Act, which stated that he was on duty as traffic police personnel during the occurrence of the incident.
• He reported that his duty timings were from 3:00 to 10:00 pm at Ghaziabad and he got dispatched from duty at 2:00 pm.

ARGUMENTS BY COUNCEL

• The advocate representing the private respondent argued that according to the probe of the Investigating Officer, the location of the mobile number which was carried by the accused was found to be close to the place of the incident.
• However, when a copy of the Purcha No. SCD-02 was asked to be supplied by the Government Advocate, being enclosed with the case diary, it was noted that the complete case diary was not sent to the office of Advocate General.
• The case diary showed the presence of the accused near to the place where the incident took place.

OBSERVATION MADE BY THE COURT

• The Bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court instructed the Advocate General for the State of Uttar Pradesh to not accept any case diary unless an Investigating Officer certifies it to be the original copy.
• The Bench further directed the Addl. Advocate General to communicate the copy of the order to all the Superintendents of Police for its immediate compliance w.e.f. August 16, 2021.

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ABOUT THIS NEW RULE?