Last Updated on June 20, 2024 by Satish Mishra
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FIR
The statements under section 154 of CrPC are considered to be FIR; this nomenclature is given to the court under section 207 of CrPC, which provides that the statements of section 154 are FIR. The object is to bring criminal law into motion on basis of which under section 156 the police officer starts the investigation; therefore, it is one of the modes of getting the criminal law into motion.
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THE IMPORTANT GUIDELINES
- Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
- If the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
- If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered. In cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week. It must disclose reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
- The police officer cannot avoid his duty of registering offence if cognizable offence is disclosed. Action must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR if information received by him discloses a cognizable offence.
- The scope of preliminary inquiry is not to verify the veracity or otherwise of the information received but only to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable offence. Also Read about Criminal.
- As to what type and in which cases preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. The categories of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under:
(a) Matrimonial disputes/ family disputes (b) Commercial offences (c) Medical negligence cases (d) Corruption cases (e) Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for delay. The aforesaid are only illustrations and not exhaustive of all conditions which may warrant preliminary inquiry.
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7. While ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a preliminary inquiry should be made time bound and in any case it should not exceed 7 days. The fact of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in the General Diary-entry.
8. Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information received in a police station, we direct that all information relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, must be mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the said Diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry must also be reflected, as mentioned above.
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UNDERSTANDING THE WHOLE CONCEPT:
Generally on the basis of FIR the police officer convenes the investigation but however it is not a condition precedent. Even without lodging FIR the police officer can start the investigation. The FIR is the statement, which is given to the officer in charge of the police station under section 154 of CrPC therefore the FIR, is merely a statement, which is given to the police officer contrary to the fact of the commission of a cognizable offence on the basis of which the police officer proceeds with the investigation.
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ESSENTIALS OF FIR
-The information must relate to the commission of a cognizable offence.
– The information must be given at the first post of time. If this information in relation to commission of a cognizable offence is not made at the first point of time then in such case it will be termed to be statement of section 161 and not of section 154 of FIR.
– This information must have been given to the officer in charge of the police station.
The first question which arises is that by whom the FIR can be lodged. Section 154 provides that the informant can lodge FIR. In Apren Joseph, the SC held that any person could lodge the FIR because the purpose of FIR is to bring the criminal law into motion; therefore, the FIR can be lodged by a witness, a victim, accused as well as any person having second hand information in relation to commission of offence.
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The informant must give the information of a cognizable offence to officer in charge of police station. The information can be given orally as well as in writing by the informant. If the information is given orally officer in charge of police station shall reduce it to writing. The informant can send this information even by post and medium of telephonic message.
According to the rule of law, the FIR must be lodged without any delay. If there is a delay in lodging FIR and it is not explained to the satisfaction of the court then it becomes fatal to the prosecution’s case and it can be used against prosecution as evidence. If the delay is well explained, then in such case the FIR will be accepted without any hindrance to the prosecutions case.
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After recording the statement, it has to be signed by the informant. If the informant fails to sign, then in such case the defect is of curable nature and doesn’t affect the validity of the FIR. If the informant was capable of signing the FIR and he refuses to sign it, then in such case he will be held under section 80 of IPC.
According to the judgment of Bhajan lal v. State of Haryana the police officer is bound to lodge FIR but in case he still refuses to file the FIR there are a certain remedies available:
- The informant can send the substance in writing and by post to the superintendent of the police who shall lodge FIR and direct the investigation in relation to it.
- The informant can file a complaint to the court and also apply for passing the direction of investigation.
- The informant can approach the High Court and the HC can pass the further orders accordingly.
- The officer superior to officer in charge or the police station may exercise all or any powers of officer in charge of the police station.
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You must consult an expert/best/top Criminal Lawyer to have assistance on your side for all legal matters like registration of FIR, police complaint, magistrate complaint, drafting of police complaint etc. in Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Zirakpur Kharar Derabassi.
This post is written by Jagriti Mahajan of Kurukshetra University (KU, 2021) Batch. For more info on subject, please dial 99888-17966.
