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A victim of any crime is under huge distress and rushes to the police station to report the same but the police officer refuses to register an FIR. Under such circumstances what can the victim do?
An FIR or First Information Report is the preliminary step that sets the whole case in motion. It is the first official record made by the police officer and contains the basic information about the crime like date, time, location, etc. Section 154 of CrPC, 1973 gives the definition of FIR.
Criminal offenses are of two types i.e., Cognizable Offences and Non-Cognizable Offences. Cognizable offenses are those offenses, where the police officer can arrest the accused without prior permission of the court, and Non-Cognizable Offences, are the ones where the police officer can’t arrest the accused without prior permission of the court. The officials are bound to take the FIR of the victim if the offense is of cognizable nature. After the registration of FIR, the informant is also entitled to a free copy of the FIR.
If the officials refuse to take the FIR without any legal justification, then the victim may send such information in writing via post to the Superintendent of Police who after being satisfied will either investigate the case himself or direct any competent subordinate official to investigate the same. This is given in Section 154(3) CrPC.
If the Superintendent of Police also fails to take necessary action, then the victim can file a private complaint before the concerned magistrate u/s 156(3) r/w 190 of CrPC. The magistrate will then look into the matter and upon satisfaction direct any competent police officer to investigate the case.
Officials can however refuse to take FIR under certain circumstances like:
The matter is trivial.
The matter is beyond the jurisdiction of the police station.
If the matter is beyond the jurisdiction of the police station, then a ‘Zero FIR’ can be registered. In cases where the victim of any crime is unable to register the FIR in the police station having the territorial jurisdiction, he/she may report it in any police station within reach. Such a report is later transferred to the concerned police station.
The Supreme Court in the case of Lalita Kumari vs. State of UP and Ors held that registration of FIR by the police officer is mandatory if the offense committed is of cognizable nature without any preliminary inquiry.
In some cases there has been some debate about the expression “reasonable complaint” and “credible information” but the court in Haryana vs. Bhajan Lal held that “genuineness, reliability, and credibility of the information is no ground to refuse to register the information”.
References:
For a more detailed understanding, refer to the" Lalita Kumari v. State of Uttar Pradesh" case study by clicking the case below.
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