What to do when Police officer refuse to register your FIR ?
What to do when Police Officer refuse to register your FIR ? An Analysis Of Section 154 (3) of Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Author : Mohd Aqib Aslam
Introduction
It is true that both crime and criminal are looked upon greatest hatred by all sections of the people in society, but it is also true that the study and research of the law relating to crime has always been one of the most attractive branches of legal Study.[1]
The study of filing a report is most important as it form the basis of every legal process. There is no proper definition of First Information Report in the Code of Criminal procedure. The term “First Information Report” means something in the nature of accusation or allegation as to commission of an offence with a view to put the public in motion. It is given in the form of report having information relating to commission of a cognizable offence given to police orally or in writing, in order to put the police in motion to investigate the matter. If the report is oral, it is to be reduced in writing. The informant must sign the report.[2]
Every person, who is aware of the commission of an offence or of the intention of any other person to commit an offence, has a duty to inform the same to the nearest Magistrate or Police Officer (Station House Officer/Officer in charge of the Police Station). Then the Police Officer records the report and it is called “First Information Report”.[3] First Information Report prima facie disclosing commission of alleged offences against accused persons cannot be quashed in the High Court going into minutest details of case.[4]
A mere information received on phone by a police officer without any details as regards the identity of the accused or the nature of injuries caused by the victims as well as the name of the culprits may not be treated as F.I.R.[5]
What To Do When Police Officer Is Not Writing Your First Information Report.
It is duty of the Officer-in-Charge of the police station to register an F.I.R when investigation under 156 (3) is directed by the magistrate, even when the magistrate explicitly does not say so.[6]
The officer-in-charge of the police station is legally bound to register a FIR in terms of Section 154 if the allegation made give rise to an offence which can be investigated without obtaining any permission from the magistrate concerned; the same way by itself, however, does not taken away the right of the competent officer to make a preliminary enquiry, in a given case in order to find out as to whether the FIR sought to be lodged had any substance or not.[7]
First Information Report to Superintendent of Police When Officer-in-Charge Refuses To Lodge F.I.R
If the Officer-in-charge of the Police Station refuses to receive/record the information, the informant may send it directly to the Superintendent of Police, who may investigate the matter personally or through his subordinates under Sec. 154(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 sub-section (1) of 154 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 code of criminal procedure and such officer shall have all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in relation to that offence.[8]
Judicial Trend Towards First Information Report
(1) Filing of second F.I.R against same accused and in respect of same incident as mentioned in first F.I.R is permissible, when second F.I.R is filed as counter-complaint by different person based on different allegations.[9]
(2) Absence of names of accused persons in FIR cannot be a ground to raise doubts about prosecution case.[10]
(3) F.l.R. under section 154 of the Code is not a substantive piece of evidence. Its only use is to contradict or corroborate the matter thereof.[11]
(4) Mere delay in lodging the FIR is not necessarily fatal to the case of the prosecution. However, the fact that the report was lodged belatedly is a relevant factor of which the court must take notice.[12]
Conclusion
First Information Report is very import as it is given by informant having fresh memory of recalling the criminal activity which he wants to make report. First Information Report is one of the important parts of Indian Legal System as it provides the moral duty on the citizens to inform authority relating crime activity. It acts as an instrument for controlling criminal activities in the state. FIR established the foundation of case and help in following procedure established by law so that rule of law remains in the state.
[1] Prof. S.N. Mishra, Indian Penal Code, 1 (Central Law Publication, Allahabad, 19th ed., 2013).
[2] Prof. S.N. Mishra, Code of Criminal procedure (Central Law Publication, Allahabad, 19th ed., Reprinted 2015).
[3] Section 154, The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as amended by The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 (22 of 2018).
[4] Dineshbhai Chandubhai Patel v. State of Gujarat, A.I.R. 2018 S.C. 314 (India).
[5] Ravishwar Manjhi v. State Of Jharkhand, A.I.R. 2009 S.C. 1262 (India).
[6] Mohd Yousuf v. Afaq Jahan, (2006) 1 S.C.C. 627 (India).
[7] Rajinder Singh Katoch v. Chandigarh Administration and others, (2008) 1 Cr. LJ. 356 S.C. (India).
[8] The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2008 (22 of 2018), 89 ( LexisNexis, Haryana, 2018).
[9] P. Sreekumar v. State of Kerala, A.I.R. 2018 S.C. 1482 (India).
[10] Mukesh v. State of NCT of Delhi, A.I.R. 2017 S.C. 2161 (India).
[11] Shambhu Dass v. State of Assam, 2010 SC 3300 (India).
[12] Ramdas v. State of Maharashtra, A.I.R. 2007 S.C. 155 (India).
What to do when Police Officer refuse to register your FIR ?What to do when Police Officer refuse to register your FIR ?
