Delhi HC directs Commissioner of Police to expeditiously decide representation with regard to delayed request for conducting post-mortem of deceased man
Acting Chief Justice Manmohan & Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora [01-05-2024]

Read Order: DR. SUBHASH VIJAYRAN v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE & ORS [DEL HC- W.P.(CRL) 1347/2024]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, June 12, 2024: In a case where it was alleged that it is a routine practice of the IOs to request postmortems after considerable delay, i.e., much later than 72 hours which is against the mandate of the Delhi High Court, the High Court has asked the Commissioner of Police to decide the petitioner’s representation regarding delayed request to conduct post-mortem of a deceased man.

The public interest petition had been filed seeking conduct of investigation into the case by an independent agency such as CBI. The Petitioner-in-person further prayed for issuance of direction to the Respondent No. 1 to conduct the post-mortem examination of the deceased, Mohd. Rizwan son of Mehraj Nabi, by a panel of forensic doctors from one of the medical colleges in Delhi.

The Petitioner-in-person stated that on March 28, 2024, an unknown dead body (which was later identified) of thirty-year-old man was recovered from Shahdara which was preserved at Sabzi Mandi mortuary and fingerprints were taken for identification. The petitioner submitted that only on April 25, 2024, i.e. after a gap of 28 days, the Respondent No. 3/Investigating Officer (IO) requested the Petitioner-in-person to conduct post-mortem of the deceased, notwithstanding the fact that the body was substantially decomposed, full of infection, with all the evidence lost in contrast to a fresh body. It was alleged that Respondent Nos. 2 & 3 violated the Standing Orders of Delhi Police and the order passed by the High Court in W.P(C) No. 3242/2023, titled Dr. Subhash Vijayran vs. Commissioner of Police, which mandates conducting of post-mortem examination within 72 hours.

It was alleged that it is a routine practice of the IOs to request postmortems after considerable delay, i.e., much later than 72 hours, thus destroying valuable evidence in the process. He further suspected that Respondent Nos. 2 & 3, by deliberate omissions and commissions, acted to hush up a possible murder case and in order to destroy all the incriminatory evidence, thereby rendering the post-mortem examination a mere formality.

The Petitioner-in-person also stated that he didn’t receive any response to his representation addressed to Respondent No. 1/Commissioner of Police with regard to delayed request for conduct of post-mortem of the deceased.

On the contrary, the Standing Counsel (Criminal), Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) stated that the post mortem in the present case was delayed as the family members of the deceased had refused to identify the body even after a dossier had been prepared on the basis of finger-print report. It was contended that the Petitioner without conducting a post mortem cannot possibly allege that the police is trying to hush up a possible murder case.

Noting that the transfer of investigation to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is done only in the rarest of rare cases and as in the present case, a representation has been made to the Commissioner of Police by the Petitioner himself, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora held, “...the present writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the Commissioner of Police to decide the Petitioners representation dated 29th April, 2024 in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within one week. The Commissioner of Police while deciding the representation shall keep in mind the alleged breach of the standing order of the Delhi Police as well as the order dated 10th January, 2024 passed by this Court in W.P.(C) 3242/2023.”

The Bench also directed the Delhi Police to ensure that the post mortem examination of the deceased is carried by a panel of forensic doctors from any Government Medical College in Delhi forthwith.