HOW TO FILE FIR
HOW TO FILE FIR
Author :- Arisha
As the crimes are increasing day-by-day in the world. So for maintaining the proper functioning of the country and maintaining a legal system so that everything is in pace there must be some rights given to the peoples so that the crimes can be reported by anyone at anytime to the police officers and actions could be taken at right time to avoid any chaos in society. Hence, the introduction of FIR came.
INTRODUCTION:
The word FIR stands for First Information Report. It is the document prepared by the police officer in writing when they get any information about the commencement of any criminal cognizable offences at any place. Anybody can report the commission of a cognizable offense either orally or on the other hand recorded as a hard copy to the police. Since it reaches at very first point of time and also it is the first phase of any criminal proceeding to get initiated to punish the guilty hence it is called First Information Report. The concept of filing FIR is prevalent in Singapore, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh etc.
SCOPE OF FIR IN LEGAL PERSPECTIVE
Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc), 1973 gives the legal validity for the registration of FIR. According to Section 154, it clarifies that a FIR can be only registered in cognizable offenses. Cognizable offenses are those offenses wherein a cop can arrest the suspect without giving any warrant and the police have full authority to investigate on their own which does not even requires the court interference too. The division of cognizable and non-cognizable offenses is outfitted under the first schedule of CrPc.
Any individual who has information about the commission of a cognizable offense can file FIR. It is not fundamental that he/she ought to be simply the person in question or must be eye- witness of the filed FIR. In Hallu and Ors. Vs. the State of M.P[1], it was held that “Section 154 doesn’t necessitate that the Report must be given by an individual who has personal knowledge of the reported incident. The section talked about details pertaining to a commission of a cognizable offence given to a police station officer”.
PROCESS OF FILING FIR:
The FIR should make reference to the date and time of the occurrence and the identification of the suspect (whenever known) in a brief way. If the person is giving verbal information of the crime happened then it must be written by the police officer in the general diary or the daily diary. But, if the written statement is being submitted by the person filing FIR then the person must carry two copies i.e., one for the duty officer and other one returned to them.
And then duty officer will go through all the submitted FIR and then one must sign the report after reviewing all the information written about the crime is correct or not. After it got enrolled, the applicant is entitled to a free copy in which FIR no., date of filing FIR and name of police station in which FIR has been lodged and the crime number mentioned can be used for future surveys tracking.
But, in case one is unable to reach police station there has to be other way of filing FIR. Increase in the technology has also affected the civil departments and hence eased the process of filing FIR too in online mode. For this, one must follow the given steps-
- Visit the Delhi Police website at www.delhipolice.nic.in (for Delhi )
- Select the ‘Services’ option from the menu bar and scroll down.
- Select the type of complaint you want to file from the drop down list.
- After you submit the FIR, you will get a e-FIR in the PDF format on the registered e-mail id.
After this the role of police come into the play, when the FIR got registered, they need to start investigating the case immediately[2], record the statements, and then final report has to be filed. If the police finds after investigating that there is no proof accessible to indict the case, further activity is dropped. This must be conveyed to the complainant. On the other hand if there is sufficient proof, the final charge sheet is submitted under the watchful eye of Court and then trial gets started.
And in case the police does not register a FIR, a composed objection can be sent to the Superintendent of Police. A report may likewise be offered straightforwardly to the Judicial Magistrate, who can guide the police to investigate the case further. However, under the Section 157 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 the police officer must give the reason for not filing the FIR.
SUM IT UP:
It might be presented that from the above sentences that, FIR has an extraordinary critical job in every criminal prosecution. FIR, being a data first in purpose of time, is an important bit of proof in any criminal trial. Along these, it is vital that FIR must be recorded in all conditions particularly where the individual has shown up in the police station to hold up a FIR against a specific wrongdoing. On the other hand FIR must be properly recorded, it might give a significant proof in a criminal case. Such data ought to be held up with the police when an individual comes to know concerning the commission of an offense. Apart from maintaining the law to support the peace in the general public, FIR may likewise prompt effective decision of a criminal trial.
[1] 1974 SCR(3) 652
[2] Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh V. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1954 Cri.LJ.921
