The Bombay High Court has expressed deep frustration over repeated instances of police failing to maintain case diaries as required by law. Despite directives from the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) to all police stations, compliance remains poor.
A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Neela Gokhale, while hearing a petition to quash a case, highlighted that the police frequently violate Section 172(1-B) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). This section requires that case diaries be properly paginated and maintained.
In January, the same concern was raised, prompting the DGP to issue a circular to all police officers. However, the court found the case diary in question to be “shabby” and improperly maintained.
The bench remarked that investigating officers are either unaware of the circular or pretending to be ignorant. The court stressed the need for strict adherence to DGP directives and statutory requirements.
The court ordered the case diary from Kherwadi police station to be forwarded to the DGP for remedial action and demanded a detailed report by June 28.
