High Court Pulls Up Haryana Police For Mentioning Person's Religion In FIR

Taking serious note of a person's religion being mentioned in an FIR, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Haryana Police chief to file an affidavit by September 18 stating what corrective measures will be taken in this regard.

The court was hearing a petition regarding a monetary dispute.

Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri noted that a similar issue arose in Punjab and, later, the state's director general of police (DGP) had issued instructions to the force against mentioning a person's religion in an FIR.

Taking cognisance of the language used in the Haryana Police FIR, Justice Puri said, "In the FIR, the religion of a person has been mentioned. This is a serious issue. A similar kind of issue arose in the State of Punjab wherein the religion of a person was mentioned." 

"Earlier, this court had taken cognisance with regard to mentioning of a caste of a person in the FIR or in any police proceedings but so far as the mentioning of a religion of a person is concerned, the matter came up before this court pertaining to State of Punjab... wherein an affidavit dated 07.03.2022 was filed by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Litigation, Bureau of Investigation, Punjab by annexing the instructions issued by the Director General of Police, Punjab that henceforth the religion of a person will not be mentioned," the court said in its recent order.

The Punjab DGP had then filed an affidavit dated September 19, 2022, with regard to the corrective measures being taken, it said.

Justice Puri directed the Haryana DGP to file an affidavit by September 18 stating what corrective measures will be taken up by the state in this matter, especially on the lines of Punjab. 

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