Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act II of 1974), Section 174-Police enquiry, investigation and report on receipt of information that a person has committed suicide and inquest by the Magistrate Court's power to examine, before the commencement of a trial, whether the police authorities conducted themselves as law and justice required of them, as a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution Probative value of investigation by the Police, including recovery of material objects to connect the crime, recording of statements of all important witnesses etc. etc. explained, and suggestions for extension of Coroners' Act, 1871 to all States made-Constitution of India, Article 32, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Sections 173(2), 174 & 175.

The petitioner Bhagwant Singh a member of the Indian Revenue Service applied to the Court for intervention and necessary relief in the matter of the death of his married daughter Gurinder Kaur alleging that due to several circumstances he was convinced that his daughter was murdered in the house of her parent's-in-law by burning her and that the police investigation was improper and irregular and ineffective.

According to the petitioner: (i) that he and his daughter were opposed to the evils of the dowry system and therefore, with a stipulation that no dowry should be demanded at the time of the marriage he gave his daughter to one Amarjit Singh, son of his colleague Kartar Singh Sawhney and a friend for over thirty years; (ii) that after the marriage his daughter came to be ill-treated by her mother-in-law hinting that gifts and jewellery were expected from her parents and such oppressive tensions at home resulted in the miscarriage of a child, from which time onwards the mother-in-law taunted her saying that unicss she observed the family tradition of presenting a necklace to her mother- in-law she would remain without a child; (iii) that sometime later, the son-in- law got it conveyed to Bhagwant Singh that he required Rs. 50,000 for financing his business which was not acceded to; (iv) that on August 9, 1980 i.e. ten months after the marriage his daughter was found dead of third degree burns from a kerosene fire in the bath room and was admitted in the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital by her father-in-law at 12.15 P.M.; (v) that the police did not get the statement of his daughter recorded though she was able to speak; (vi) that the police added section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act to the charge on November 29, 1980 and only on May 15, 1981 a reference to section 306 IPC was included in the F.I.R.; and (vii) that the police failed to examine material witnesses and recover material objects and proceeded in a leisurely manner,

The Court admitted the writ petition and called for full details from the Inspector General of Police about the investigation of the case and the circumstances leading to the non-filing of the report under section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Disposing of the Writ Petition and directing the C.B.I. to complete the investigation within three months, the Court