Delhi Court asks Police Commissioner to explain FIR in a cheating case

A Delhi Court on Monday directed the Commissioner of Police, Delhi to file a reply explaining the reasons of discretion exercised by the Crime Branch relating to the First Information Report in a cheating case.

Crime Branch of Delhi Police had lodged an FIR against accused Naim Qureshi in December 2019 followed by the complainant filed by one senior citizen Ranjan Oberoi accusing him of charges relating to dishonest misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and criminal intimidation.

In his complaint, Oberoi has alleged Naim Qureshi was the key conspirator and mastermind of a gang who along with other co-accused hatched a well-knitted criminal conspiracy and cheated the complainant and his relatives to the tune of Rs 77, 60,000 over a period of time by inducing the complainant and committing systematic fraud on the pretext of investing the complainant's hard-earned money in their real estate business.

"Other co-accused Mohd. Afzal and Sajid Qureshi approached the complainant and his relatives at my residence in Nizamuddin West in the month of February 2016 as part of their well thought out criminal conspiracy and lured us, on the basis of their false, fabricated and lucrative stories that they will double the money invested by us in their real estate business in six months and thereby induced me and my relatives to lend them huge amounts of money of Rs. 77, 60,000 from time to time," the complainant alleged.

Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh noted that there is no special reason mentioned in the FIR as to why the case was registered at the Police Station Crime Branch and not in the Police Station concerned disregarding the provisions of the CrPC.

"Considering the fact that there is no special reason mentioned in the FIR as to why the case was registered at PS Crime Branch and not in the PS concerned (disregarding the provisions of the CrPC), A copy of this order be sent to the worthy Commissioner of Police, Delhi to file a reply before the court of the Ld Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, South East explaining the reasons of such discretion exercised by the worthy SpecialCP/Crime, " the Court said.

"The worthy Commissioner, Delhi Police is further directed to file the list of all the representations made in the last one year to the Crime Branch regarding the various offences along with the details of the cases in which the FIR was registered and in which the same was directed not to be registered along with the reasons of the same. The reply is filed by the next date i.e. 31.07.2021," the Court said.

The Court also said that the copy of this order be also sent to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Union of India for necessary information so that the prima facie arbitrary exercise of the discretion of the worthy Special CP can be looked into.

Naim Qureshi, arrested in the case, is currently in judicial custody till July 31.

( With inputs from ANI )

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