New Delhi: Irritated by the small size of letters and improper spacing between words and lines, the Orissa High Court asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to instruct all police stations in the state to use a proper pattern while writing chargesheets and FIRs.
A single judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi advised the state police to use Times New Roman font with size of at least 12 points and maintain 1.5 spacing between the lines while preparing chargesheets and FIRs. Justice Panigrahi said in an oral observation that he could not comprehend a chargesheet submitted by the police in connection with a murder case even after using a magnifying glass.
“I had to use a magnifying lens to read the chargesheet and still I failed to comprehend a single line of the copy. It becomes very irritating for the judges to read the chargesheets due to improper font and letter size,” Justice Panigrahi said during the hearing.
The high court also directed the DGP to file a compliance affidavit within two weeks, failing which the DGP will have to appear before the court personally.
The bench observed that a proper and uniform pattern of writing for chargesheets and FIR copies will be helpful for all stakeholders. He said during the hearing that not only judges but sometimes prosecution and defense lawyers also find it difficult to comprehend chargesheets. A uniform font size and proper spacing between words and lines will be helpful for judges, prosecution and defense counsels, the bench said in oral observation.
The high court made these observations during the hearing of murder case.