Reforms in CCB: FIRs to be filed by asst commissioners

As part of the initiative to bring more accountability to the Central Crime Branch of the city police, (unit probing white collar crimes), officers in the rank of assistant commissioner have been asked to register FIRs and not inspectors as is the usual practice, sources in the city police said.

“The concept is not new. It was accepted and approved by the HC a few months back. But it is yet to be followed by the CCB officers. Now, senior officers are insisting on it,” noted an officer in the rank of assistant commissioner.

The city police had informed the HC that officers in the rank of assistant commissioner in the CCB unit have been designated as Station House officer (SHOs). This was approved by the Madras HC. Since ACs were designated as SHOs, they would have to register the FIR, a procedure followed in the CBI, where an officer in the rank of superintendent of police, registers FIRs and hands over the case to a designated investigation officer.

Through this, senior officers believe that they can bring in more accountability in the investigations by CCB, which does not enjoy a good reputation among petitioners. Often, CCB investigators are accused of delaying FIR registration based on petitioner complaints as investigators claim that they must make inquiries before registering it.

“Preliminary inquiries can be conducted in certain cases before a case is registered to ascertain if there is a prima facie case. In such instances, FIR should be registered after conclusion of inquiry and the summary of the conclusion arrived at by the inquiry officer, and not the complaint, will be the body of the FIR,” noted a CCB officer.