Contents :

1.What is an F.I.R?

2. What is a cognizable offence ?

3.How an F.I.R can be registered?

4.Procedures after the registration of the F.I.R and Power of the police after F.I.R.

5.Section 41 CrPC

6.Duties of the police and rights of the arrested person.

7.What to do when police refuses to file the F.I.R?

8.Quashing of the F.I.R.

9.Filing for Anticipatory bail.

10.Online F.I.R and different types of F.I.R.

People who don’t have much knowledge about laws, often get confused and have lots of queries in their mind when it comes to reporting of any offence of which they may be rejected to.They don’t know the nature of the offence and consequently they don’t know whether a complaint has to be filed in the police station or they are entitled to register the F.I.R.

What is an F.I.R?

An F.I.R is the First Information Report registered by a person with whom any kind of cognizable offence has been committed. Before knowing more about F.I.R, it is important to know about cognizable offences.

What is a cognizable offence?

It simply means offences which are of a severe nature and is punishable with an imprisonment of 3 years or more according to the provision of IPC.Cognizable offences are non bailable and the police has all the powers to arrest without warrant, any such person against whom the commision of such offences are alleged( for eg,rape, murder, theft etc).

When and How an F.I.R can be registered?

According to section 154A(1)Cr.PC,if the complaint of a person has the elements of cognizable offence, then the person is entitled to register an FIR in the nearest police station where the offence was committed and the police officer in charge is duty bound to register the F.I.R else he shall be punished acc to the provisions of section 180 of Cr.PC. The F.I.R has to be provided in writing or it may be given orally, if it is given orally then it should be written down exactly as narrated by the informant and should be read it out to him and also should be signed by him( informant). As per section 2, a copy of such F.I.R should be provided to the informant free of cost.

Procedure after filing of the F.I.R( Powers of the police after the F.I.R is filed)

Once the FIR is registered then the police has to take immediate action and carry out the investigations.According to section 41 of Cr.PC,A police officer is empowered to arrest a person without a warrant being issued by the magistrate against whom the FIR is registered. As the F.I.R is always registered for severe offences, considering the seriousness of the case and in order to avoid the tampering of the evidences or abscondment of the accused, police have to take a quick action and thereby are granted with some powers.

Newly inserted section 41A in Cr.PC is a limitation to the power granted to police under section 41.According to section 41A instead of arresting, the police may give a notice regarding the registration of FIR to the accused if it appears to police that the matter is not so severe or if it appears that the matter may be fake , but such person has to follow all the directions given by the police.The police may give bail also to such accused if they deem fit.

Duties of the police/Rights of the arrested person after the F.I.R is registered.

When the arrest is being made in accordance with section 41 of CrPC, the arresting officer should tell the person being arrested about the grounds on which he is being arrested as per section 50(1)of CrPC. Arrest Memo has to be prepared as per the judgement of Supreme Court at the time of the arrest.He should be allowed to meet with his advocate and should not be physically beaten by the police. Such arrested person is entitled to be taken to the magistrate court within 24 hours of his arrest according to section 57 of CrPC.As per section 41D within 12 hours of his arrest, the family members of the the arrested person should be informed.When the person is taken to the court, the police shall file the chargesheet and may ask for his remand (police custody) if they feel that some more investigations are to be carried out and the accused may cause tempering of the evidence or may cause an undue influence over the case. The accused’s advocate shall appeal for bail and on hearing his side,the bail may be granted or refused.If the bail is refused and even the police did not ask for the remand then,the accused may be sent to jail also.(judicial custody). NOTE– A chargesheet contains all the details collected by police after the filing of the F.I.R such as statement of the victim and witness if any, circumstantial evidences,evidences found on the crime spot , reports of medical examinations of the victim and accused if any conducted etc.

We often get to hear about police refusing to register the F.I.R in the cases of Cognizable offences also. They do it because registration of F.I.R is followed by a quick action (investigation, enquiries, arrest, filing of statements of witness etc).They get burdened with their work or may be because they are answerable to the police department. If their are many F.I.R’s registered in the police station they are in charge of, then ultimately it means that they are failing to control the rate of crimes in their concerned jurisdiction.It affects their reputation.

What to do when police refuses to file an F.I. R?

1.When police refuses to file the F.I.R, then the aggrieved person can file a complaint to the Supritendent of Police or Commisioner of the Police.They may investigate the matter themselves or direct their subordinate officer to look into the same so as to why the FIR is not being registered and can direct the concerned police officer to register the matter.The complaint may be filed by post or email.

If the matter is not solved even after contacting the SP or DCP, then A petion has to be filed in the magistrate court and acc to Section 156(3) of CrPC, the magistrate is empowered to order the police to register the F.I.R.

Still not relieved even after contacting the magistrate court, one can even move to the High court and file a writ petition (Mandamus).

How to Quash the F.I.R?

If an F.I.R is registered against a person and he thinks that the F.I.R is fake and he’s being fabricated then,he according to the provisions of section 482 of Cr.PC can move to the High Court and file an application to get the F.I.R or any criminal proceedings if any initiated against him in lower court, to be quashed.Before going to the court he may even through his advocate may contact the supritendent of Police and seek help, he may request the SP to change the investigating officer.

Case Law: Gyan Singh vs State of punjab

In this case the larger bench of the Supreme Court held that the High Court shall have the power to quash the F.I.R or proceedings for the purpose of serving justice.

How to apply for an Anticipatory Bail?

If an FIR is registered against a person and he feels that he is being framed and may get arrested then he may apply for an anticipatory bail in the sessions Court or high court in accordance with the provisions of section 438 of CrPC.

How to file FIR online online?

Every state police has a website of its own, you just have to type “online fir maharashtra” or whatever is the name of your state and just follow the instructions coming before your screen.

There are many types of F.I.R’s.

1.Cross FIR- When both the parties involved in a cognizable offence register FIR against each other then its called Cross FIR.

2. Multiple F.I.R -When many F.I.R’s are filed against the same person and for the same crime, across the cities or states,then it is the case of Multiple F.I.R.agaist such.for eg if a person talks disrespectful about National leaders or hurts religious all the affected people all over the country can file Multiple F.I.R’s against such person.

3.After the sad incident of Nirbhaya,this concept of ZERO F.I.R was initiated with the purpose of starting the investigation as soon as possible without any delay due to jurisdictions issues. If the investigations start early the commision of the crime may be prevented.

Hope this has been a helpful information regarding F.I.R .

SOURCE:CrPC 1973 , internet sources.

DISCLAIMER:This article is only to provide knowledge to readers.All efforts made to provide accurate information.Verification Recommended.