How to Lodge FIR in India. Registering of First Information Report and Police Complaint.
First Information Report is almost synonym to Police complaint. Lodging an FIR means complaining to police about the happening of an incident which is against the law. Victim himself or anyone on his behalf can give application of FIR to police and police cannot reject the FIR. FIR should be filed immediately without any unreasonable delay to avoid consequences of delay.
Meaning of FIR and a Complaint
FIR means First Information Report, made in writing to the Police Station
either by the victim himself, the eyewitness about a commission of a
Cognizable offence(in which Police Officer can arrest without a warrant).
Where FIR Can be registered
FIR is generally registered in the jurisdiction of the concerned Police
Station or in some cases it can also be made at different places and it is
transferred back to the concerned Police Station.
FIR number is formal registration no of a criminal complaint.
Whereas, Complaint made to Police Station is different. Informal
complaints include both, the cognizable and non-cognizable offences. A
Complaint could be in oral or in writing form about an illegal activity or
an act.
Why should FIR be registered
Registration of FIR is giving the very first minute information to the
police. The person filing FIR may not have full knowledge about the case and
it is not necessary to have full awareness. Most important point is to give
information to the Police without delay. Only after filing FIR the police
start investigation. So Registration of FIR is very important in a criminal
matter.
Who can register FIR
Anyone who knows or have the knowledge of the commission of a Cognizable
offence being it the Victim, Eyewitness, police officer himself or any other
person can lodge the FIR to the Police Station of the concerned
Jurisdiction.
Procedure for lodging FIR
The procedure of filing the FIR is given under Section 154 of the
Criminal Procedure Code 1973. Provision under Section 154 of Code of
Criminal Procedure 1973 is as under:
"154. Information in cognizable cases.
(1) Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if
given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced
to writing by him or under his direction, and be read Over to the informant;
and every such information, whether given in writing or reduced to writing
as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it, and the substance
thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in such form
as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf.
(2) A copy of the information as recorded under sub- section (1) shall be
given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant.
(3) Any person aggrieved by a refusal on the part of an officer in charge of
a police station to record the information referred to in subsection (1) may
send the substance of such information, in writing and by post, to the
Superintendent of Police concerned who, if satisfied that such information
discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, shall either investigate
the case himself or direct an investigation to be made by any police officer
subordinate to him, in the manner provided by this Code, and such officer
shall have all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in
relation to that offence."
What are the details to be mentioned in the FIR
Following details that need to be mentioned correctly in an FIR are as
follows:
- Name and address of the Complainant
- Date, Time and Location of the place where the incident took place.
- Facts of the incident
- Name and Description of the persons involved
After the personal information of the complainant and the necessary details
of the incident are given, there are few important steps that need to be
kept in mind :
Duty of Police officer to write down FIR
Once the information is given, it is the duty of the Police officer to write
it down
The Police officer should recite the FIR to the complainant
After writing down the complaint, the police officer should recite the same
to the complainant
Signature by the complainant
After verifying the details given by you in the complaint, it should be
duly signed or for the people who cannot read and write, they should put
their thumb impression on the same.
Right of complainant to get copy of FIR
It is the right of the complainant to get a copy of the FIR, free of cost.
Solution when delay is made in filing FIR
There are certain situations in which delay could be made in the lodging
of an FIR, such cases need to justify the reason for the delay caused. In
cases where unexplained and if an undue delay is made in the lodging of FIR,
these are always seen with the eye of suspicion.
There are basically three categories due to which delay is made, these are
as follows:
Delay by an informant in lodging the FIR
The law demands a valid explanation for the delay caused in the FIR, In
the case of Munna@Pooran Yadav v State Of Madhya Pradesh, The court held
that the distance between the village and the Police station was 6 km, that
caused the delay of 1 hour. Thus, the distance could not be ignored and the
FIR was held genuine.
Likewise, in a Rape complaint the delay of 10 days was made in lodging the
FIR, the explanation given was that the reputation of the family members was
at stake and it filing a complaint of such serious nature could have
hampered the image of the family in the society. In this case, also, the
delay made was considered genuine.
Delay in recoding he FIR by the officer in charge of the Police Station
In some cases, Police first visit the crime scene or the location where the
incident took place and then record the FIR from the witnesses present
there. This leads to the delay in lodging of the FIR because in cognizable
cases it should be lodged first and then the police start their
investigation. So, such kinds of activities cause the delay from the side of
the police officers.
Delay in dispatching the FIR to the Magistrate
Sometimes, the delay is caused beyond the limits of the police in charge
and the informant. In the cases where the delay caused is validly justified
by the Police in charge, then the reliability of the FIR will automatically
increase.
Other reasons that leads to the delay
Beyond the above mentioned three categories, the other reasons due to which
the delay is caused in the lodging of a Fir from the side of the
informant/complainant are:
Fear of damage of family’s reputation in the society.
- Fear of the accused person
- Fear of getting falsely implicated
- Fear of grievous injuries to the complainant or the family members.
- Shock caused by such incident.
Consequences of delayed registration of FIR
Beyond the remedies that we can take for the reasonable delay caused in the
filing of FIR, like the two sides of the same coin, it has consequences
also. According to the delay in hours, there are different consequences in
every increasing hour.
- 5 hours delay: Not seen with suspicion
- 12 hours of delay: Delay caused of 12 hours in the filing of FIR comes in
the purview of Evidence law
- 15 hours of delay: When the FIR is lodged with a strong delay of 15 hours,
the false implication of accused cannot be completely ruled out.
- 5 Days of delay: Accused becomes entitled to benefit of doubts
- 14 Days of delay: It would be needing the strong and valid reason for
conviction of a person based on an allegation lodged after the delay of 14
days.
When the Police Officer refuses to register an FIR
Sometimes, Police refuses to lodge FIR in few cases. This could be because
of the reasons that Police may not be having the Jurisdiction over such area
or it could be because the case would have been of non-cognizable nature
then, refusal in such cases is legal and correct. Beyond these cases, where
the Police Officer refuses to register an FIR is illegal and the person may
take following steps to get his FIR lodged in the Police records.
In the case of Cognizable offence, if Police Officer refuses to write down the complaint that comes under his territorial jurisdiction under Section 154 (3) of Criminal Procedure Code,1973, then the Complainant/informant can approach the Superintendent of police or the Higher Officers of Police with a written complaint. If the S.P of on analysis of the written complaint gets satisfies or agrees that the Complaint discloses the non-cognizable nature of the offence, he may either investigate himself or direct his subordinates to register the FIR and start the process of investigation.
If the above-mentioned remedy does not work then the person can also file a
private complaint in the Court of Judicial Magistrate/ Metropolitan
Magistrate having the territorial jurisdiction under section-156(3) read
with section -190 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
Provision under section 156(3) of CrPC is as under:
"156. Police officer' s power to investigate cognizable case.
(1) Any officer in charge of a police station may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any cognizable case which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of such station would have power to inquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XIII.
(2) No proceeding of a police officer in any such case shall at any stage be called in question on the ground that the case was one which such officer was not empowered under this section to investigate.
(3) Any Magistrate empowered under section 190 may order such an investigation as above- mentioned."
Provisions under Section 190 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is as
under:
"190. Cognizance of offences by Magistrates.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, any Magistrate of the first class, and any Magistrate of the second class specially empowered in this behalf under sub- section (2), may take cognizance of any offence-
(a) upon receiving a complaint of facts which constitute such offence;
(b) upon a police report of such facts;
(c) upon information received from any person other than a police officer, or upon his own knowledge, that such offence has been committed.
(2) The Chief Judicial Magistrate may empower any Magistrate of the second
class to take cognizance under sub- section (1) of such offences as are
within his competence to inquire into or try."
If the police officers are not doing any efforts to get the FIR registered
or is working in a biased manner, then the victim can also file a complaint
to the State Human Rights Commission or the National Human Rights
Commission.
Procedure after registration of FIR
Once the FIR is registered, there are following steps that take place
and the process of investigation starts:
If the area comes under the Jurisdiction of the Police, then the Police
possess all the powers to investigate
It then comes to the assessing power of the police officer, whether such
case needs investigation or not.
Convinced with the findings or the results of the FIR, the Police Officer
forwards the report to the Magistrate and asks him to take the cognizance of
the offence.
Magistrate orders further investigation on that particular FIR
No statement given by any person during the inquiry investigation shall
be signed.
After giving the report of the investigation, if the Magistrate is satisfied
with the results of the FIR, the court issues Summons.
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