Shimla, Dec 5,
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has expressed strong displeasure with the police department for delaying the filing of an FIR against industries dumping ash into a river in Baddi. Despite the court’s orders on November 12th, the police took an additional seven days to register the FIR.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya has directed the SP of Baddi to personally respond to the delay in filing the FIR.
Citing the Supreme Court’s Lalita Devi judgment, the court emphasized that FIRs must be registered promptly upon receiving information. In this case, while the court had instructed the police to file an FIR on November 12th, it was only registered on November 26th. The court questioned whether the police had been “asleep” during this period.
Meanwhile, the Pollution Control Board informed the court that it had disconnected the electricity supply of another company that had been illegally dumping ash into the river. The court has directed the Director of Industries to personally file an affidavit in this regard. The company whose electricity supply has been cut off has pleaded with the court to restore it. However, the court has stated that it will only consider the company’s plea after the river has been cleaned.
