Coming down heavily on police for not registering a complaint in the case of a man whose body was found hanging from a tree in June, a local court in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district has said the force “owes a duty to promptly register an FIR and initiate investigation’’ in a case.The court said when an informant apprises the police regarding the commission of a cognizable offence, police authorities are not vested with “any discretion to conduct a preliminary inquiry to assess the credibility of the information’’.“Any such practice would be contrary to the established principles of criminal law,’’ said Chief Judicial Magistrate, Reasi, Geeta Kumari, in her 12-page judgment, last week.Earlier, advocate M Zulkarnain Chowdhary, counsel for the brother of the deceased, told the court that police had not registered any case despite written complaints in the matter.The matter pertained to the death of a man whose body was found hanging from a tree near the house of the parents of his estranged wife on June 24.Also Read | ‘Public order’ vs ‘law and order’: Why Jammu & Kashmir HC scrapped a PSA detentionDespite a written complaint by the deceased’s brother, alleging that he had matrimonial discord with his wife, and that she along with her son had attacked him with an axe earlier as well, police initiated inquest proceedings in the matter instead of filing an FIR.The petitioner had sought registration of an FIR against 10 people, including his brother’s wife and her son, alleging that they had called the deceased to attend a meeting and killed him after he refused to grant her a divorce. They later hanged his body from a tree to make it look like a case of suicide, he alleged.Story continues below this adMaking it clear that police cannot examine allegations levelled by the applicant “as if the court is conducting a trial”, the CJM directed the police to register an FIR in the matter. The question, presently, is whether the facts disclosed in the application prima facie indicate commission of a cognizable offence requiring investigation by the police.Referring to the inquest proceedings initiated by the police in the matter, the judge observed that these have a “very limited scope’’.“The object of these proceedings is merely to ascertain whether a person has died under suspicious circumstances, or an unnatural death and if so, what is the apparent cause of death,’’ the CJM said. “The question regarding the details as to how the deceased was assaulted, or by whom, or under what circumstances is foreign to the ambit and scope of the proceedings under Section 174 CrPC,’’ she added.Also Read | Legal system treats animals like objects, not living beings: Jammu & Kashmir High CourtThese inquest proceedings are distinct from those initiated after the registration of an FIR, the court said. The proceedings commence with the recording of an information pertaining to commission of a cognizable offence, the judge observed. “Any step taken by the investigating officer pursuant to recording of such an information towards detection of the crime would be a part of investigation under the CrPC,” she added.Story continues below this adPointing out that these are two distinct types of proceedings, the judge observed that “inquest proceedings relate to ascertainment of apparent cause of death of a person who has died under mysterious circumstances, whereas proceedings pertaining to investigation relate to detection of the crime and all attending matters, including the apprehension of the culprits.”