Bifurcate police powers into investigative and law & order wings: Raj HC

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has directed the state govt to frame a policy that separates the powers of the police department into two different wings – one for maintaining law and order and the other for investigation of cases registered at police stations. The directions came as the court expressed strong displeasure over the 11-year delay in a pending criminal investigation. A single bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand passed the order on March 16 while disposing of two connected petitions — one filed by accused Jitendra Meena seeking quashing of an FIR against him, and the other by complainant Shilpacharya Vishwakarma Grah Nirman Sahkari Samiti Ltd seeking a fair, transparent and time-bound investigation into the matter.The case pertains to an FIR registered in 2014 at Pratap Nagar police station, Jaipur (East), under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Police have failed to file a chargesheet in the case despite the passage of over a decade.In a factual report submitted to the court on May 13, 2025, the Pratap Nagar station house officer (SHO) attributed the delay to continuous deployment of the station's personnel to secure VIP movements, law-and-order maintenance and related duties. These included Rajasthan Assembly sessions, festivals such as Shab-e-Barat, Mahashivratri and Holi, Indian Premier League (IPL) matches and security arrangements during the 2025 visit to Jaipur of US vice president J D Vance.Pratap Nagar police station is close to Jaipur international airport and is, therefore, routinely assigned additional responsibility of securing VIP movements to and from the airport. Appearing for the complainant, senior advocate R P Singh argued that despite multiple investigations and factual findings establishing a prima facie case in the matter, the police haven't been able to file a charge-sheet. He pointed to the recovery of forged documents, blank leases and backdated receipts allegedly linked to the accused, stressing that the inordinate delay has undermined justice. "This is a clear injustice as more than a decade has already passed," Singh said in court.Coming down heavily on the police's reasoning for the delay, the court termed the situation "shocking and surprising", noting that repeated judicial directions have failed to ensure completion of the probe.Justice Dhand observed that assigning both investigative and law-and-order responsibilities to the same police officials hampers effective policing. The court directed the chief secretary, principal secretary (Home), and director general of police to frame a policy creating separate wings for investigation and law-and-order functions within the police force in an effort to ensure efficient and time-bound probes.The court also directed the investigating officer in the case to conclude the probe and file a charge-sheet within six weeks. It tasked the Jaipur police commissioner and the additional commissioner of police (East) with monitoring compliance in the matter.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with EId ul fitr 2026 wishes, messages and quotes !