How can police probe without FIR, asks HC; Narsinghpur SP told to file affidavit

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has questioned how police can conduct an investigation into a cognizable offence without first registering an FIR, and has directed the Superintendent of Police, Narsinghpur, to file a personal affidavit explaining the legal basis for such action.A Division Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court comprising Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice A K Singh was hearing an appeal seeking exhumation of a body for a fresh post-mortem.During the hearing, government counsel informed the court that a preliminary inquiry had been conducted by the SHO of Ganj police station in Narsinghpur district. The inquiry reportedly concluded that the complaint did not warrant registration of an FIR.The Bench questioned under which legal provisions such an inquiry was conducted without registering an FIR in a matter where a cognizable offence was alleged. The government advocate submitted that the inquiry was carried out in compliance with an earlier order of a Single Bench of the high court and directions issued by the Superintendent of Police on November 11, 2025.Expressing concern, the Division Bench observed that the complaint was filed with the specific request to register a cognizable offence. It asked how police could proceed with an investigation without first registering an FIR, and how such directions could be issued by the SP or acted upon without following statutory provisions.The court noted that police authorities are bound by legal provisions and Supreme Court guidelines regarding registration of FIRs in cognizable cases. It directed the SP, Narsinghpur, to personally submit an affidavit clarifying the procedure adopted. The matter has been posted for further hearing on March 31.The appeal was filed by Jabalpur resident Kasimuddin Qureshi. He stated that his brother, Gayasuddin Qureshi, a resident of Boripar village in Narsinghpur district, met with an accident on March 26, 2025, and was admitted in critical condition to a hospital in Jabalpur. The following day, he was referred to Nagpur for further treatment, where he died.The petitioner pointed out that the discharge summary from the Jabalpur hospital mentioned injury marks on his brother's chest. He argued that under these circumstances, the death could not be presumed to be natural and sought a fresh post-mortem after exhumation of the body.He had earlier submitted an application to the SP, Narsinghpur, seeking investigation and re-post-mortem. When no action was taken, he approached the high court.A Single Bench had dismissed the earlier petition, observing that the deceased was buried on March 27, 2025, and that there was no material on record to suggest that the original post-mortem was conducted with malafide intent or in violation of procedure. The court had noted that mere mention of injury in the discharge summary was not sufficient to presume homicidal death or to order re-examination.Challenging that order, the petitioner filed the present appeal, which has now led to the Division Bench seeking an explanation from the district police chief on the issue of conducting an inquiry without registering an FIR.