1368. (i) Section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires that every Police Officer making an investigation should enter day by day his proceedings in the investigation in a diary, setting forth the time at which the information reached him, the time at which he began and closed his investigation, the place or places visited by him and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation.
(ii) Statements of witnesses examined by the police during investigation should be recorded in Form No.137 and should be attached to the case diary for the day.
(iii) The case dairy proper, which should contain the details mentioned in Sub-Order(i), should be written in Form No.138.
(iv) There will be a docket sheet in Form No.139 for each case file.
1369. As provided in Order 1264 copies of statements of witnesses proposed to be examined during an inquiry or trial should be made available to the accused before the inquiry or trial commences. The case diary proper may be used by the court in inquiries or trials, not as evidence but to aid such inquiry or trial. Neither the accused nor his agents shall be entitled to call for such diaries nor are they entitled to see them merely because they are referred to by the court; but, if they are used by the Police Officer who wrote them to refresh his memory or if the court uses them for the purpose of contradicting the Police Officer, then the provisions of Section 161 or 145 of the Indian Evidence Act, as the case may be, shall apply.
1370. The following instructions shall be observed in writing case diaries:-
(i) Every case diary should contain the following information:
a) date and hour of taking action
b) date of report of the case;
c) name of the complainant or informant;
` d) names of accused known, if any;
e) property lost;
f) property recovered;
g) date and last page of the previous case diary, if the case diary is
not the very first one;
h) name of the deceased, if any, and
i) names of witnesses examined.
(ii) The first case diary should commence with a brief summary of the First information Report, the time of receipt of the complaint, delay, if any, in starting for the scene, the time of departure for and arrival at the scene, and description and plan of the scene.
(iii) In it will also be noted the place or places visited by the Investigating Officer, a statement of circumstances ascertained through the investigation and the date and hour of closing the investigation. Every step taken by the Investigating Officer should be mentioned as concisely as possible. Every clue obtained, even if at the time it appears likely to be of no value, houses searched with reasons for the search and the names of witnesses to the search, property recovered, its description and place where it was found, arrests, information obtained which is likely to prove of value, and methods adopted by the culprits are among the things to be mentioned in the case diary. The Investigating Officer shall separately record in Form No.137, the statements of persons examined by him and attach them to the case diary.
(iv) In addition to copies of statements of persons recorded in Form No.137, copies of Panchanamas and sketches of scenes of offences will be attached to the case diary.
(v) The case diary shall be invariably written up embodying the investigation done on each day. Statements of witnesses should be reduced to writing on the spot in Form No.137. If it is not possible to reduce to writing the statement of a witness on the spot, it should be taken down in the Investigating Officer's notebook, and transcribed in the prescribed form as soon as possible on the same day the witness is examined. If, for any unavoidable reason, notes have to be taken on separate sheets of paper, these should not be destroyed after the case diary is written but preserved in the case file.
(vi) Case diaries and statements of witnesses will be written by carbon process, one copy being filed in the Police Station and the other sent to the Circle Inspector who will forward it to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer with his remarks, if any. Where case diaries are required to be forwarded to the Superintendent, an extra copy of the case diary and the statements of witnesses will be made. The Sub-Divisional Police Officer will dispose them off according to orders. Where the SHO is a Police Inspector he will forward the diaries to the Sub Divisional Police Officer and the Superintendent of Police.
(vii) The names of informers need not be entered in the diary and no court can compel an Investigating Officer to disclose the name of an informer.
(viii) (a) When a case is transferred from one Investigating Officer to another, the officer taking over the investigation shall take charge of the diary, noting therein the date of assuming charge of the investigation of the case.
(b) (i) The question, whether it is necessary to re-examine the witnesses already examined and record their statements when a subsequent investigation is taken up by another officer, is often raised. Ordinarily, such further investigation is taken up in the following instances:
(A) When a case was first investigated by a Head Constable or a Sub-Inspector and is later taken up by his superior, i.e., the Sub-Inspector or the Inspector;
(B) When an Investigating Officer is transferred in the middle of the investigation of a case and the case is taken up by his successor; and
(C) When a case is reinvestigated by the Corps of Detectives, C.I.D.
(ii) In such cases, mentioned at (A) and (B) above, it is incumbent on the succeeding Investigating Officer to re-examine all the important witnesses already examined, as the object of an investigation into a case is to ascertain the facts and circumstances. But, as regards the recording of their statements, law does not require the Investigating Officers to reduce such statements into writing. It is enough if the second Investigating Officer, re-examines witnesses with reference to their previous statements already on record and certifies to their correctness of the previous statements. If any additional facts are spoken to by any witness, the second Investigating Officer will have to record those facts and note such other facts as may be necessary in clarification of the facts and omissions in the statement already recorded. However, in a case where the statement recorded by the first Investigating Officer is bare of essential details or has omissions or defects, it is advisable for the second Investigating Officer to record the statement once again in detail.
(iii) In a case taken up by the C.O.D., the Investigating Officer of the C.O.D. is expected to re-investigate the entire case and not to continue the investigation already done by the local Police Officer. To that end, it is necessary that he should not only re-examine the witnesses but also record their statements in full. The fact that the recording of such statements may lead to multiplicity of contradictions and deviation in the statements of witnesses and may cause inconvenience to the police in furnishing copies to the accused cannot be a valid and lawful ground for evading it.
(iv) Those who, under the orders of the Investigating Officer, assist him by making any enquiries they are directed to make, do not thereby become Investigating Officers under Chapter XII of the Cr.P.C. Therefore, it is not necessary for them to write case diaries under Section 172 Cr.P.C. The result of any enquiries such officers make or action they take, pursuant to the orders or instructions of the Investigating Officer, will be communicated by the former to the latter by means of a special report. Head Constables and Constables will also make necessary entries in their notebooks. The Investigating Officer shall embody the gist of such special reports in his case diary under Sections 172 Cr.P.C.
(v) In investigation under Section 174 Cr.P.C. relating to suicide and accidental deaths, statements of witnesses examined during the investigation will be recorded separately and attached to the investigation report. No case diary need be written incorporating the statements of witnesses. But, if any important witness is examined subsequent to the investigation, a brief case diary should be written giving therein the reasons for not examining the witness during the investigation and other cognate details, and the statement of the witness recorded separately should be attached to the case diary. However, in a case where it has not been clearly established that it is a suicidal or accidental death, though the panchayatdars at the investigation have so opined, a case diary should be written discussing the evidence let in during the investigation and the arguments for treating the case as an accidental or a suicidal death. When a Head Constable holds an investigation, the Sub-Inspector should subsequently verify the investigation and such verification and the result thereof should be embodied by the Sub-Inspector in a case diary. A case diary should also be written embodying the results of the post-mortem examination, if one is conducted on the same day the post-mortem report is received.
(vi) Applications for remands should be made on the case diary form mentioning the grounds justifying the remand applied for and should be accompanied by a copy of the entries made in the case diary, up to the stage the accused is sent for remand.
(vii) case diary forms should be used for applying to Magistrates for warrants of arrest or search, proclamations and other orders connected with investigation and for forwarding search lists provided these communications refer to registered cases. Other-wise, the memorandum form will be used.
(viii) Case diaries should also be written in cases which have been referred by a Magistrate to the police for investigation under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and in all non-cognizable cases which are required to be investigated by an order of a Magistrate under Sub-Section (2) of Section 165 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
1371. After completion of the investigation, the Investigating Officer shall record in the concluding diary, a brief summary and the reasons which have guided his final decision in the case. If he considers that there is no case, his reasons will, of course, be fuller, than if he sends the case for trial. A copy of the charge sheet and the final report, as the case may be, will be attached to such concluding diary. A copy of such concluding case diary together with a copy of the charge sheet or final report, as the case may be, should be sent in all cases to the Superintendent through the Inspector and the Sub-Divisional Police Officer. The PI SHO will submit to the Superintendent of Police through the SDPO.
1372. In order to show the progress of trials in courts, court case diaries shall be written in Form No.140, reporting hearings and adjournments, the witnesses examined on each hearing, how each of them fared, and other matters of interest, if any.
1373. As and when a case is decided by the court, court case diaries in Form No.141 shall be written. A copy of such court case diary in all cases should also be sent to the Superintendent through the Inspector and Sub Divisional Police Officer. The PI SHO will submit to the SP through the SDPO.