Delhi Court Observed : Arrest Not Necessary For Filing Charge Sheet Court Reprimands I.O 

In a criminal case, a Delhi court has observed that the arrest of an accused merely for filing a charge sheet is not justified. If the investigation is possible without the arrest of the accused, the charge sheet can be filed without taking him into custody.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Devendra Kumar, located at Karkardooma Court, while hearing the case of dowry harassment and dowry death, told the investigating officer that he is not fully aware of the legal process.

If the investigating officer takes the accused into custody just for filing the charge sheet, then it is directly against the judicial norms, so he should make in-principle corrections in his actions in future. After the death of a woman last year, a case of dowry harassment and dowry death was registered against the in-laws.

In this case the mother-in-law of the deceased had filed a bail application in the court. When the court sought the reply from the investigating officer, he said that he is going to file the charge sheet in this case, so it is necessary to take the accused woman into custody.

When the court asked the investigating officer whether any new facts had come to light in the case in the last nine months, the investigating officer had no answer.

This incident happened in April 2021. To avoid arrest, this family had filed an anticipatory bail petition in the year 2021 itself, which was approved only after the police was asked to give notice to each accused five days before the arrest of the accused.

One of the accused in the trial has already got regular bail, while this accused was also accused by the relatives of the deceased as were levelled against his mother-in-law.

The court said that the accused woman is entitled to bail on the basis of equality. The court has granted bail to the accused mother-in-law on the basis of a personal bond of Rs. 25,000/- and surety of like value.