FIRs Under Section 188 IPC Registered Without a Written Complaint Under Section 195 CrPC Are Void Ab Initio: Punjab and Haryana High Court Quashes COVID-Era Criminal Proceedings

Case Name: Sachin Thakran and Others v. State of Haryana and Others

Date of Judgment: 14 July 2026

Citation: CRM-M-12700-2022

Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice H.S. Grewal

Held: The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that criminal proceedings for an offence under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code cannot be sustained unless a written complaint is made by the concerned public servant or an authorized officer in terms of Section 195(1)(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Registration of an FIR by the police, without such a statutory complaint, renders the prosecution void ab initio and deprives the Court of jurisdiction to take cognizance.

The Court rejected the State’s contention that the defect related merely to the stage of cognizance, observing that the mandatory safeguard contained in Section 195 CrPC is intended to prevent unauthorized prosecutions and abuse of criminal process. The Court further relied upon the Division Bench judgment dealing with the widespread illegal registration of COVID-19-related FIRs under Section 188 IPC and reiterated that non-compliance with Section 195 CrPC is an incurable defect that vitiates the entire prosecution.

Accordingly, the FIR registered under Sections 160 and 188 IPC and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, together with all consequential proceedings, was quashed.

Summary: The petitioners invoked the inherent jurisdiction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking quashing of FIR No. 71 dated 16 May 2021 registered at Police Station Rozka Meo, District Nuh, for offences punishable under Sections 160 and 188 IPC and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The principal challenge was founded upon Section 195(1)(a) CrPC. The petitioners contended that no written complaint had been filed by the District Magistrate or any competent public servant as mandated by law. Instead, the prosecution had been initiated solely through an FIR registered by the police, which was impermissible in cases involving offences under Section 188 IPC.

Reliance was placed upon the Division Bench judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Court on its Own Motion v. State of Punjab and Others, wherein numerous FIRs registered during the COVID-19 pandemic under Section 188 IPC were declared illegal for want of compliance with Section 195 CrPC.

The State opposed the petition by submitting that any defect relating to Section 195 CrPC arose only at the stage when the Court takes cognizance of the offence and did not invalidate the FIR or the investigation carried out pursuant thereto. It was argued that the FIR disclosed cognizable offences and therefore should not be quashed merely because of a procedural objection.

Justice H.S. Grewal rejected the State’s submission and observed that the record unequivocally established the absence of any written complaint by the competent public servant as required under Section 195(1)(a) CrPC. The prosecution had been initiated exclusively on the basis of a police FIR, contrary to the mandatory statutory procedure.

The Court relied upon the Supreme Court decision in M.S. Ahlawat v. State of Haryana, which authoritatively declares that Section 195 CrPC is mandatory in nature and that failure to comply with its requirements deprives the criminal court of jurisdiction to take cognizance.

The Court also referred extensively to the Division Bench judgment rendered in Court on its Own Motion v. State of Punjab, which had taken suo motu cognizance of the large-scale registration of illegal FIRs during the COVID-19 pandemic and held that prosecutions initiated under Section 188 IPC without the requisite complaint were legally unsustainable. The Division Bench had further observed that such prosecutions unnecessarily burdened an already overburdened criminal justice system.

Reaffirming these principles, the Court held that Section 195 CrPC creates a statutory bar against unauthorized prosecutions and that non-compliance constitutes an incurable defect going to the very root of jurisdiction. Since the mandatory precondition for prosecution had not been satisfied, continuation of the criminal proceedings would amount to abuse of the process of law.

Decision: The Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the petition and quashed FIR No. 71 dated 16 May 2021 registered under Sections 160 and 188 IPC and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, together with all consequential proceedings.