The FIR (First Information Report)- Detailed Analysis

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is FIR
3. By whom FIR can be lodged
4. Provision under Section 173(1), Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita
5. Against whom FIR can be lodged
6. Application for lodging FIR
7. Cost of lodging FIR
8. Duties of the Officer-in-charge of the Police Station in respect of FIR
   • 8.1- Uttar Pradesh Police Regulations- Chapter-X
9. If the Police do not believe in the information received
10. If the Police is not lodging FIR?
11. Application to the Superintendent of Police
    • 11.1- Provision under Section 173(4), Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita
12. Name of Witness in FIR
13. The practicality of lodging FIR
14. Need to consult an Advocate while lodging FIR
15. Use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) for writing an application for FIR
16. What if you forgot to mention some crucial facts in the FIR
17. What if you have wrongly mentioned any fact and/or data in the FIR
18. Delay in lodging FIR
19. Validity of second/multiple FIR
20. Quashing of FIR
21. Conclusion

Rulings

• S.P. CBI v. Tapan Kumar Singh, 2003 (2) Crimes 300(SC): AIR 2003 SC 4140
• Sakiri Vasu v. State of U.P. [Criminal Appeal No. 1685 of 2007
• Vuyyliri Ralna Reddi, [1963(1) Cri. L.J. 735 : AIR 1963 AP 252]
• Kumer Singh v. State of MP 2007 Cri. L.J. 1349 (MP) DB
• P. Venkateswarlu v. State of AP [2003 Cri. L.J. 837 (SC)]
• Jai Prakash Singh v.  State of Bihar, 2012 Cri. L.J. 2101 (SC)
• R.P. Kapour v. State of Punjab

1. Introduction-

In S.P. CBI v. Tapan Kumar Singh, 2003 (2) Crimes 300(SC): AIR 2003 SC 4140 the Supreme Court has opined that when the facts stated in the GD disclose the commission of a cognizable offence, such GD can be treated as FIR.

Here, GD stands for General Diary, which is meant to contain day-to-day every minute of police work.

3. By whom FIR can be lodged-

It is a general misconception that only the victim or somebody related to the victim/deceased can get the FIR lodged. The correct situation is that any person whether he is a victim or not, may also be any person related to the victim and also any person who is not acquainted with the victim/victims. The person who gives information/makes a complaint is known as the informant/complainant. Apart from the general public, any police officer, any government official or any artificial person (Company, Firm etc.) can also get the FIR lodged.

4. Section 173(1), BNSS-

Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, irrespective of the area where the offence is committed, may be given orally or by electronic communication to an officer in charge of a police station, and if given—

(I) orally, it 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;

(ii) by electronic communication, it shall be taken on record by him on being signed within three days 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 by rules prescribe in this behalf:

The list is not limited to the above-stated persons, it can also be lodged against others including unknown persons depending upon the nature of the offence and definition of offence.

6. Application for lodging FIR-

The information as to cognizable offences can be given orally or in writing and also by electronic medium. Preferably an application in writing addressed to the officer in charge of the police station is given in the police station. Based on the application, the police lodge the FIR under relevant sections of the law. For making the case strong the application must have some standing value. If the application is not strong enough then FIR would not be strong which can also lead to the acquittal of the accused. Although the case is not solely based on FIR there is an effective trial procedure but it does have its impression on the case. The things to keep in mind while writing an application for FIR-

• The application should be in a regional language (Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali etc). Avoid using English as a medium for writing applications because in most states police officers who are to deal with your case do not know English properly.
• The information (application) must be signed by the informant. If it is by electronic communication then it must be signed by the informant within three days (Introduced by Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023).
• Explain the incident in detail along with the time and date of occurrence.
• Write down every minute detail of the incident like from which side the accused person was/were coming, what was the position of the victim and all other relevant details.
• Try to avoid any minute space that gives scope for doubting your case or weakening your case.
• Explain what the offence alleged has been committed.
• It should not be too long because with the increase in the length of FIR the loopholes also increase.
•  Use of certain terms that show the intention or knowledge of the accused regarding the commission of the offence.
• For charging any person with any offence all the essential elements of that offence must be present, which is of great importance to keep in mind while writing an application.
• Although anyone can write an application it would be best to consult an Advocate before writing an application. The informant will be provided forthwith a copy of the information recorded (Copy of FIR) free of cost.

7. Cost of lodging FIR-

Once the FIR is lodged then the first informant must be provided with a copy of the FIR. The copy shall be given forthwith to the informant/victim as the case may me. There shall be no cost or fee for lodging FIR or for the copy of FIR, it shall be given free of cost. If any police personnel asks for money for lodging FIR or to provide a copy of the FIR then it is illegal. The aggrieved person shall make a complaint against that police personnel before senior officials of the police.

8.1- Uttar Pradesh Police Regulations- Chapter-X

• Paragraph 97- Whenever information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence is given to an officer-in-charge of a police station the report will immediately taken down in triplicate in the check receipt book for reports of cognizable offences (Police Form No. 341). This step will on no account be delayed to allow time for the true facts to be ascertained by a preliminary investigation. Even if it appears untrue, the report must be recorded at once. If the report is made orally the exact words of the person who makes it, including his answers to any questions put to him should be taken down and read over to him; he must sign each of the three parts, or if he cannot write, he must make his marks or thumb-impression. If a written report is received an exact copy must be made, but the signature or mark of the messenger need not be taken. In all cases, the officer-in-charge of the station must sign each of the three parts and have the seal of the station stamped on each. The triplicate copy will remain in the book: the duplicate copy will be given to the person who makes the oral or brings the written report; the original will be sent forthwith through the Superintendent of Police to the Magistrate having jurisdiction with the original written report (if any) attached.
  • The practice of delaying first information reports until they can be sent to the headquarters attached to special or general diaries is contrary to the provisions of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and is prohibited.
  • If there is an Assistant or Deputy Superintendent in-charge of the sub-division, and stationed at a place other than the headquarters of the district, the original should be sent through him to the Magistrate.
• Paragraph 98- It is essential that all reports and entries in registers and diaries should be written clearly and legibly. These documents may have to be proved later in courts of law, and much delay and difficulty may be caused if the original writing is not clear and indisputable.
• Paragraph 99- As soon as the report has been written in the first information book, the substance of the report must be briefly recorded in the general diary. The entries in the first information report and the general diary must be made at once, even if the report is received at night. The village crime notebook, crime register and the register of property should be written up within 24 hours if the report entails the making of entries in these registers.
• Paragraph 100- If the officer-in-charge of a station an oral report of congizable offence when he is away from the station house, and wishes to begin the investigation at once and cannot dispense with the attendance of the person who made the report, he should take the report down in writing and after having it signed of marked by the person who made it, should send it to the police station to be treated as written report.
• Paragraph 101- Whenever the occurrence of an offence of any of the following kinds is reported-
  • Dacoity;
  • Robbery except unimportant cases such as snatching ear-rings;
  • Torture by police;
  • Escape from police custody;
  • Forging of currency notes;
  • Manufacture of counterfeit coins;
  • Serious defalcations of public money including theft of notes or hundis  from letters; Important cases of murder, rioting, burglary, and theft, breaches of the peace between different classes, communities or political groups and other cases of special interest,
  • Copies of the report will be sent immediately in red envelopes to the Superintendent, the District Magistrate, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and the circle inspector by post or hand whichever may be the quicker method of conveyance. The telephone or telegraph when available, and the departmental telegraphic code, copies of which have been supplied to all police stations near telegraph offices should also be used to give the Superintendent early news of such offences.
• Paragraph 101-A- Copies or report shall be sent to District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police in all important cases or categories of cases in which they may require special reports to be sent.
• Paragraph 102- When a report is made for non-cognizable offence, the important portion of the report should be recorded in the check receipt book for reports of non-cognizable offence (Police Form No. 347). The informant should be required to sign or affix his mark to each of the two copies. The duplicate copy should be given to him, the original remaining in the book. The substance of the report should be entered in the general diary, and, if the report is in writing, the proper containing should be attached to the diary. The informant should also be referred to the Magistrate, as required by Section 174 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita.
• Paragraph 103- The responsibility imposed on the officer-in-charge of police station by Sections 173 and 174(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the correct recording of all reports of crime, whether cognizable or non-cognizable, will be enforced, and he must countersign all reports of either kind recorded.

9. If the Police do not believe in the information received-

There may be a situation if the officer-in-charge of the police station does not believe in the information received. In such type of situation, if the officer-in-charge of the police station has doubts regarding the commission of a cognizable offence then he should verify the information received. He has the duty to make an entry in the general diary and proceed to the place of occurrence where he can inquire about the incident. If he finds out the information received to be true then he should lodge the FIR.

10. If the Police is not lodging FIR?-

However, the officer-in-charge of the police station must reduce to in writing any information regarding the commission of cognizable offence. But often we see that either the police is not lodging an FIR or it is asking for some undue advantage. Firstly, you must approach the Officer in Charge of the Police Station, mostly there are chances that your information shall be recorded. But if he does not respond affirmatively then don’t consider yourself to be helpless. The informant has been empowered with a remedy by law in such kind of situation. The informant can send the substance of the information in writing or by post to the Superintendent of Police.

11. Application to the Superintendent of Police-

Any person who is aggrieved by the refusal by the Officer in charge of the Police station to lodge an FIR can approach the Superintendent of Police. A written application addressed to the Superintendent of Police should be sent by post. If he is satisfied that the information discloses the commission of offence then he shall-

• either investigate the case himself or
• direct any subordinate police officer to investigate the case.

Now if a situation arises that there is no response on the part of the Superintendent of Police then where to go? So, then the aggrieved person may make an application to the magistrate which shall be supported by an Affidavit and for this you will need to consult and engage an Advocate who will explain everything regarding the case.

The Supreme Court has held in the case of Sakiri Vasu v. State of U.P. [Criminal Appeal No. 1685 of 2007, order dated- 07.12.2007] that if a person has a grievance that his FIR has not been registered by the police, or having been registered, proper investigation is not being done, then the remedy of the aggrieved person is not to go to the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India but to approach the Magistrate concerned under Section 156(3) and 173(8) of Cr.P.C.

11.1- Section 173(4), BNSS-

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 sub-section (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 Sanhita, and such officer shall have all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in relation to that offence failing which such aggrieved person may make an application to the Magistrate

12. Name of Witness in FIR –

People are also often confused as to whether there is a need to mention the name of the witness in the FIR. If Yes, then, what is to be done if there is no witness to the cognizable offence at all? So, it is a very general misconception amongst the common people that there must be at least a witness to lodge the FIR. There is no requirement of law that the names of all witnesses be mentioned in the FIR. The object of this is only to set the criminal law in motion.

In re Vuyyliri Ralna Reddi, [1963(1) Cri. L.J. 735 : AIR 1963 AP 252] The court has held that it is a misconception to regard the FIR as a document which should contain the entire case for the prosecution, including the names of all witnesses. Its main purpose is to give information of a cognizable offence to police and set them in motion.

13. The practicality of lodging FIR-

Now leaving apart the provisions of law let’s talk about practicality. If the offence is very serious then generally the police will lodge the FIR. If the offence is less serious then the police will not lodge the FIR. It will try to avoid the FIR and give you excuses. There are maximum chances that the Superintendent of Police is also not going to do anything so you must consult an Advocate at a very early stage. He will explain to you whether the police are going to lodge the FIR in the particular case or not. Thereafter, there is only to approach the Magistrate after following the procedure as explained above.

14. Need to consult an Advocate while lodging FIR-

You may think that you have written thousands of applications from your school to college and still usually write leave applications as a way to waste money on an Advocate. You must consider one thing you are not just narrating a story or incident, you are going to establish the foundation of a criminal case. If the foundation is weak then the case is weak. There are also chances that even after narrating the whole incident no case is made out because for certain offences certain elements need to be satisfied. With which a common citizen is usually unaware. There are various directives of the Supreme Court and High Court which is not available and accessible to common people. Therefore, you must consult an efficient Advocate at the very first stage.

15. Use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) for writing an application for FIR-

It’s all up to you whether to use AI or not. Because you can narrate the story to the AI and he is going to base his results on those inputs. What input you give, whether it is relevant or not neither a common person can know nor an AI. I am not denying the reach and feasibility of AI but it is just a computer programme. However, if an AI program is specifically built for this purpose, then it is good to go. But even after this, I highly recommend you consult an Advocate. An AI does all have for which it has been programmed, it will not work on loopholes of facts and of the law.

When asked an AI application for help in this regard, it agreed but in the last line of result, it added, “However, human oversight remains crucial to ensure the legal validity of the document produced.”

16. What if you forgot to mention some crucial facts in the FIR-

There may be a case that for any reason whatsoever you forgot to mention some crucial facts and/or data in the FIR. What to do now? Has your case gone out of your hands? The answer is No, although you cannot amend or edit the FIR but there is a way out. You will have an opportunity to explain all those facts and/or data that you forgot to mention. It can be compensated at the stage of investigation police will record your statement under section 180 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (previously Section 161, Cr.P.C.). When police record your statement under section under Section 180 BNSS then you can explain every leftover in the FIR. The genuineness of FIR cannot be doubted because of the mentioning of names all the accused persons with their fathers’ names [Kumer Singh v. State of MP 2007 Cri. L.J. 1349 (MP) DB].

In P. Venkateswarlu v. State of AP [2003 Cri. L.J. 837 (SC)] the Supreme Court has ruled out that mere non-mention of names of all the accused person and details of injuries said to have been suffered by some of the accused in the FIR does bot render the FIR weak or unreliable.

17. What if you have wrongly mentioned any fact and/or data in the FIR-

There may also be a situation in which you have wrongly mentioned any fact and/or any data in the FIR. In this situation what can be done? Will the accused get the benefit? The answer is No, It can also be stated correctly while recording statements under Section 180 BNSS (previously 161, Cr.P.C.). However, the council of the accused will try its best to exploit the point for his benefit.

Some of the reasonable explanations for the delay are as follows-

• Fear of accused persons.
• Fear of damage to family honour in rape cases.
• Absence of motive to falsely implicate the accused.
• Delay due to shock of murder.
• When the fact mentioned in the FIR cannot be changed by mere delay.
• Bad weather.
• Rough road.
• Non-availability of transport.
• When the informant did not know that it was necessary to lodge an FIR.
• Delay due to police station staff.
• Long distance from the police station.

19. Validity of second/multiple FIR-

Lodgement of two or more FIRs is not permissible in respect of one and the same incident. The concept of sameness has been given a very restricted meaning. It does not include lodging of a counter FIR relating to the same or connected cognizable offence. The thing which is prohibited is any further complaint by the same complainant and others against the same accused after the registration of the case under the code. However, this prohibition does not cover the allegations made by the accused in the first FIR alleging a different version of the same incident. It is also very essential to know that a plea of two FIRs cannot be raised in appeal before the Supreme Court.

In Yunus Zia v. State of Karnataka [2015(2) Crimes 219 (SC)] the Supreme Court has said that when FIR discloses commission of cognizable offence and triable case is made out, power under section 482 Cr.P.C. should be exercised. However, the quashing of Fir or a complaint in exercise of inherent powers of the High Court should be limited to very extreme exceptions. The inherent power of the High Court [Section 482 Cr.P.C./ Section 528 BNSS] needs to be exercised sparingly with circumspection, in the rarest of the rare case.

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