Keeping case diary under safe custody is an important task – Keeping case diary under safe custody is an important task. The case diary is the picture of the entire result of the investigation and other particulars regarding the topography of the place of occurrence, the probability of approach of the offender to the scene and the direction of retreating and the location of the probable witnesses etc. The activities of the police investigation officer can very well be looked after by the senior police officers going through the records of the case diary. .....Ministry of Law, Justice & Parl. Afrs. =VS= BLAST, (Civil), 2017 (2)– [3 LM (AD) 274] ....View Full Judgment

The case diary must include entries of necessary information for each of the days –
The language used is day by day and therefore, it is mandatory duty for such officer to record every day’s progress of the investigation. The case diary must include entries of necessary information for each of the days when investigation is in progress. Sometimes the investigation officers neglect the examination of the witnesses on the first day of the visit of the place of occurrence and after consuming days together record the statements in a single day. This process is totally unauthorised. In every case the investigation officers must record the statements of the witnesses present expeditiously on the first day or the following day if the FIR discloses the names of the witnesses who are acquainted with the facts of the case. Section 157 of the Evidence Act in an unambiguous language stated that the admissibility of a previous statement that should have been made before an authority legally competent to the fact ‘at or about the time’, when the fact to which the statement relates took place. The object of this section is to admit statements made at a time when the mind of the witness is still so connected with the events as to make it probable that his description of them is accurate. But if time for reflection passes between the event and the subsequent statement it not only can be of little value but may be actually dangerous and as such statement can be easily brought into being. .....Ministry of Law, Justice & Parl. Afrs. =VS= BLAST, (Civil), 2017 (2)– [3 LM (AD) 274] ....View Full Judgment

Learned Attorney General submits that the High Court Division has not considered the Police Regulations of Bengal while making observations relating to case diary and submits that under the Police Regulations of Bengal the court or any other person is not authorized to look into the case diary in view of G.O. No.P.8C-5/60(III) 34PI, dated 16th January, 1961. .....Ministry of Law, Justice & Parl. Afrs. =VS= BLAST, (Civil), 2017 (2)– [3 LM (AD) 274] ....View Full Judgment

Record the case diary –
A case diary is written as the investigation progresses. It is, therefore, obligatory to record the case diary every day when investigation is taken place. The writing up of the case diary must not be held up at the end of the day. It is always wise to write up the case diary in the place where investigation is conducted. The quick and immediate writing up of case diary helps recording every little detail of the investigation properly. This sort of case diary truly reflects the nitty-gritty of the police investigation. The case diary needs to be recorded as the case advances during the course of investigation. .....Ministry of Law, Justice & Parl. Afrs. =VS= BLAST, (Civil), 2017 (2)– [3 LM (AD) 274] ....View Full Judgment