Protest Petition

What is a Protest petition?

A protest petition is a remedy available to the victim to petition after the police makes a report regarding the crime committed against the victim. It is not provided explicitly under criminal law. It is filed before a judge in the event a victim is not satisfied with the investigation conducted by the police. It is generally filed in cases where the police after investigation makes no case against the accused.

By permitting magistrates to act as prosecutors, rejecting closure reports, and sending them back for further examination might compromise the integrity of the legal process. For instance, if the same case is brought before the same magistrate's court, their preconception may influence the proceedings.

One of the main issues with the Protest Petition is that the aggrieved informants/victims are unable to fully utilize the procedure recognised by the Courts because of unequal access to information, a lack of knowledge about police procedure in general and this tool in particular, as well as the desensitization of police incompetence.

The First time when a Protest Petition was filed-

It was only in 1985 that the Supreme Court for the first time clarified the state under which a protest petition can be filed. It is filed in a situation where the victim is unsatisfied with the investigations and findings made by the police. The decision in the Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police held that in the absence of any provisions in the CrPc, the obligation of the magistrate to issue notice to the injured person or relative of a victim arose from the “principles of natural justice.

Official definition of Protest Petition

There is no definition of a protest petition in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The lack of such codification of the victim's rights under the CrPC makes it difficult for the victim to use the remedy. The magistrate in this case has three options for handling the matter in this situation because the protest petition was presented as opposed to the police report under the CrPC. in such circumstances the magistrate of the police station has three ways of proceeding with the case-

He may accept the protest petition and reject the final report which was submitted by the police.
He may accept the final report but at the same time treat the protest petition as a new complaint under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
He may accept the final report and reject the protest petition in total.

Scope of filing a protest petition- When a closure report has been presented in accordance with Section 173(2) of the CrPC and there is also a supplementary report pursuant to Section 173(8), a protest petition can only be filed if both reports are unfavourable.

However, as was decided in the case of Vishnu Kumar Tiwari v. State of Uttar Pradesh, it is within the magistrate's discretion whether to regard the protest petition as a complaint.

Challenges after filing the Protest Petition

Some of the challenges that come even after a protest petition is filed are as follows-

For most of the victims there remains some doubt after filing the protest petition and this comes with a cost since these questions have important consequences. For example, a complaint case allows for arguing discharge after cross-examining witnesses and such cases can be dismissed for non-appearance of the complainant.
Even if it is settled that if the magistrate does decide to take cognizance of the Protest Petition, the cognizance of the protest petition depends on the discretion of the magistrate.
At the same point of time the protest petition must satisfy the ingredients of a 'Complaint' under Section 2(d) of the Cr.P.C., and then the complainant must be examined on oath before issuing summons.

References

Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police1985 SCR (3) 942.
Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Section 178 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
Vishnu Kumar Tiwari v. State of Uttar Pradesh 2018 SCOR 23507
Ministry of Statistics and programme implementation, government of India (no date) Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation. Available at: https://www.mospi.gov.in/central-statistics-office-cso-1 (Accessed: 3rd July 2023).
Maniyar, Z (2022) The importance of Zakia Jafri’s protest petition, CJP. Available at: https://cjp.org.in/the-importance-of-zakia-jafris-protest-petition/ (Accessed: 5th July 2023).