Filing of a false FIR is an offence:

Section 211 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 provides that false accusation of offence is itself an offence for which there is a punishment of imprisonment upto seven years and fine. This is the provision:

False charge of offence made with intent to injure.—Whoever, with intent to cause injury to any person, institutes or causes to be instituted any criminal proceeding against that person, or falsely charges any person with having committed an offence, knowing that there is no just or lawful ground for such proceeding or charge against that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both;
and if such criminal proceeding be instituted on a false charge of an offence punishable with
death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for seven years or upwards, shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

This is the reason that politicians file petitions in Supreme Court and High Courts alleging corruption but they do no file complaint with the police. Remember Rafale and the jibe of Rahul Gandhi? This why never filed a proper complaint with police. But Mumbai police is so great that it has found a way to file FIR without implicating itself. Read the English translation of FIR No. 843 of 2020 against India TV on the website of Republic TV here.

It starts with the narration that “Today on 6th October 2020 Assistant Police Inspector Mr. Kazi has informed me that on the basis of secret information“. Now the complainant has no information and Mr. Kazi who has information is not the complainant. Why? Obviously to escape the liability of section 211 quoted above.

But read further. On next page it alleges “During routine audit activities conducted by the complainant in the Mumbai region on 11th June 2020 at 4.45 PM…………”
Thereafter the complainant mentions all the details of what he found and as to how malpractice was going on etc. etc. Now when the complainant himself knows everything, why the FIR begins with the reliance on a secret information?

Why this happened?

While it is a good device to hide the real complainant to save him from prosecution. Here police is trying to save itself only at the cost of complainant. It appears that the Police first picked up few people with or without Bar-O-Meter etc. After these witnesses were ready to implicate desired people, the FIR was lodged with the complaint already lying in the police station. The burden is on the police to explain these inconsistencies. Ordinarily the duty is to explain to the court but since Police Commissioner chose to resort to a bragging press conference, he must explain this to public to assure that Mumbai Police is not holding a Kangroo Court by such press conference.

The typed complaint is an annexure to the FIR which is perhaps obtained conveniently to complete the formality. So much so that Perhaps Police Commission himself did not notice that it had named India Today TV or the Commissioner knew and suppressed that part.

The big question is why complainant did not make any complaint from discovery of malpractice in June 2020 till October 2020?

There are more problems in this FIR besides the problem noted above. There is no ingredients of offence of Cheating and misappropriation but Police very well knows that most people do not know the law and they have to play to the gallery so they did not bother. But grave offence will vest them with more powers to unleash more oppression. Let them answer what is the identification of property which is misappropriated or which is induced to be parted with?

I doubt that police would do anything to clarify it’s position. Police in oppressive mode is rarely answerable and this is a serious threat to the Rule of Law in India.