It is well established in judgments of the Supreme Court and various high courts that magistrates are not required to pass remand orders in a mechanical way, and have to actually peruse the case diary, arrest memo and FIR to see if there is a genuine case against the accused.
This cannot of course be an in-depth inquiry and assessment of evidence, which is what would happen at trial, but it is not to be an eyewash either. Indeed, the Supreme Court in the Arnab Goswami case recently confirmed that it is the duty of courts at every level to scrutinise the FIRs and the police’s materials against an accused to see if an offence is actually made out.
This doesn’t mean quashing the police’s investigation or stopping them from exploring all possible avenues – however, it does mean ensuring that a person’s liberty is not taken away unless there is enough material.
As discussed earlier, however, even from the Delhi Police’s own press release, there does not appear to be enough…