The Madhya Pradesh High Court has mandated that police officers and medical professionals must photograph injuries sustained by crime victims to help courts accurately assess the severity of harm inflicted.
The direction was passed by Justice Subodh Abhyankar on July 14 in the case Seetu and Others vs The State of Madhya Pradesh. The High Court expressed concern over an emerging pattern where serious injuries are understated in First Information Reports (FIRs) by invoking minor offences, thereby facilitating the accused to secure anticipatory bail at an early stage.
“This Court cannot turn a blind eye to such recurring pattern adopted by the Police Officers across the State… lodging cases under petty sections such as Sections 296, 115(2), 351(3), 118(1), 3(5) of BNS (equivalent to Sections 294, 321, 503, 324, 34 of IPC) despite grievous injuries being caused,” the Court observed.
The misuse, the High Court said, is often cloaked under the Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014) guidelines, which promote the principle of no automatic arrest in minor offences. However, such provisions are now being exploited, the Court held, to grant immediate relief to the accused even in heinous assault cases.
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Highlighting the tactical downgrading of charges, the Court noted that this allows accused persons to later argue that the offence was never serious to begin with—despite contrary evidence surfacing later during trial.
In light of these observations, the Court issued a state-wide direction:
“In all cases of injuries, the police officer concerned and the treating doctors must photograph the injured persons, clearly capturing the wounds. This will allow courts to assess the nature of injuries and identify any manipulation of the legal process by either party.”
The directive was issued during a hearing on an anticipatory bail plea where the Court noted severe injuries had been inflicted on the complainants. However, the FIR was registered under minor bailable sections, prompting the Court to suspect foul play.
When the Court asked for photographs of the injuries, police officials cited the urgency of nighttime medical attention as the reason for their absence. The Court found this inconsistent with the decision to book the case under petty offences.
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