AIR 2013 SUPREME COURT 2348 ::2013 AIR SCW 3394 ::AIR 2013 SC (Criminal) 1516 ::(2013) 3 DLT(CRL) 263 ::(2013) 3 CurCriR 67 ::2013 (12) SCC 529 ::2013 (3) MadLJ(Cri) 103 ::2013 (4) RecCriR 205 ::2013 (7) Scale 435 ::(2013) 2 ALD(CRL) 578 ::(2014) 2 AllCriLR 907 ::(2013) 3 ChandCriC 146 ::(2013) 55 OCR 928 ::(2013) 127 AllIndCas 115 (SC) ::2013 (127) AllIndCas 115

Supreme Court Of India

(From : Punjab and Haryana)

Hon'ble Judge(s): B. S. Chauhan, Dipak Misra , JJ

(A) Criminal P.C. (2 of 1974) , S.156— Constitution of India , Art.21— Investigating agency - Is guardian of personal liberty - Ethical conduct of investigating officer is therefore absolutely essential. The Investigating Officer 'is not merely present to strengthen the case of the prosecution with evidence that will enable the Court to record a conviction, but to bring out the real unvarnished version of the truth.' Ethical conduct on the part of the investigating agency is absolutely essential, and there must be no scope for any allegation of mala fides or bias. Words like 'personal liberty' contained in Article 21 of the Constitution of India provide for the widest amplitude, covering all kinds of rights particularly, the right to personal liberty of the citizens of India, and a person cannot be deprived of the same without following the procedure prescribed by law. In this way, the investigating agencies are the guardians of the liberty of innocent citizens. Therefore, a duty is cast upon the Investigating Officer to ensure that an innocent person should not suffer from unnecessarily harassment of false implication, however, at the same time, an accused person must not be given undue leverage. An investigation cannot be interfered with or influenced even by the Courts. Therefore, the investigating agency must avoid entirely any kind of extraneous influen....