Kerala DGP Loknath Behera asks Vigil not to jump gun

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vigilance director Loknath Behera has cautioned Vigilance officials against making public preliminary inquiry (PI) reports while registering corruption cases as it could affect the investigation.

The usual practice of vigilance is to conduct preliminary inquiries into petitions in order to determine where there is any prima facie evidence for any cognizable offence. Only then a First Information Report is registered.

Mr. Behera pointed out  in a circular issued the other day that in many such FIR's it was mentioned that the preliminary inquiry revealed a cognizable offence and hence a case needed to be registered. In that case the preliminary inquiry report should also have to be submitted along with the FIR. This could affect the detailed investigation.

Mr. Behera, who is also the state police chief, instructed that the investigation officer need not refer to the preliminary inquiry report in the FIR and that only when the complete investigation was over, the report needed to be submitted either along with the final report or during trial. “Producing the preliminary inquiry report along with the FIR will be detrimental to the investigation,” Mr. Behera said in the circular.

It may be recalled that Behera recently directed vigilance officials not to name officials or individuals as accused in FIRs without sufficient evidence. Instead the accused should be mentioned as ‘unknown’ in FIRs.