Dowry death victim's case caught in jurisdiction wrangle
A man's attempt to get justice for the dowry death of his daughter, who was harassed by her in-laws but succumbed to her burn injuries in a hospital, has got caught in a jurisdiction wrangle involving the Delhi Police and their UP counterparts.
A man's attempt to get justice for the dowry death of his daughter, who was harassed by her in-laws in Aligarh but succumbed to her burn injuries in a hospital in the Capital, has got caught in a jurisdiction wrangle involving the Delhi Police and their UP counterparts.
Unable to convince the Delhi Police to register a case, victim Bhawna's father petitioned the Delhi High Court to sort out the issues over jurisdiction raised by them.
He alleged the Delhi police refused to register a regular FIR on the ground that the cause of action, such as injuries, had arisen in Aligarh and they did not have territorial jurisdiction to act in the case.
The victim's father had sought judicial intervention on the ground that a Delhi SDM at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi recorded her daughter's dying declaration and hence the police should have registered the case in the Capital.
Babu Lal Saroha, a city resident, had married his daughter Bhawna to Sunil Kumar in Aligarh in 2006. On May 6 last year, she was admitted to a Aligarh hospital with burn injuries and later shifted to Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi. She succumbed to injuries on July 8.
Delhi Police, in its reply to the petition, told the the High Court "a zero FIR has been registered at police station Mangolpuri on the complaint of Saroha against the victim's husband and in-laws... and its copy has been sent to SSP Aligarh for necessary action."
In cases where the cause of action arises outside the territorial boundary of a police station, a zero FIR is registered and sent to the police station concerned for necessary action.
The High Court, in a recent order, however, said that since the FIR (zero) has been registered, there was no ground for further interference in the matter.