FIRST INFORMATION REPORTS (FIR) - POLITY
News: Give us complete break-up of 6,000
FIRs, SC tells Manipur government
What's
in the news?
●
The Supreme Court said that it needed a
complete break-up of the “approximately 6,000 First Information Reports [FIRs] “the
Manipur government claimed to have registered during the ethnic clashes in the
State, including cases of murder, rape, arson, crimes against women, burning of
villages, homes and places of worship.
FIR:
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The term first information report (FIR) is
not defined in the Indian Penal Code
(IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, or in any other law, but in
police regulations or rules, information recorded under Section 154 of CrPC is
known as First Information Report (FIR).
●
Section 154 (“Information in cognizable
cases”) says that “every information relating to the commission of a cognizable
offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be
reduced to writing by him or under his direction.
Important
elements of an FIR:
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The information must relate to the commission of a cognizable offence.
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It should be given in writing or orally to the head of the police station and
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It must be written down and signed by the informant, and its key
points should be recorded in a daily
diary.
Cognizable
offence:
●
A cognizable offence is one in which a
police officer may, in accordance with the First
Schedule of the CrPC, or under any other law for the time being in force, make an arrest without a warrant.
●
In the First Schedule, “the word
‘cognizable’ stands for ‘a police officer may arrest without warrant’; and the
word ‘non-cognizable’ stands for ‘a police officer shall not arrest without
warrant’.
Zero
FIR:
●
When a police station receives a complaint
regarding an alleged offence that has been committed in the jurisdiction of another police station,
it registers an FIR, and then transfers it to the concerned police station for
further investigation. This is called a Zero FIR.
●
No regular FIR number is given. After
receiving the Zero FIR, the concerned police station registers a fresh FIR and
starts the investigation.
Difference
between a Complaint and an FIR:
●
The CrPC defines a “complaint” as “any
allegation made orally or in writing to a Magistrate, with a view to his taking
action under this Code, that some person, whether known or unknown, has
committed an offence, but does not
include a police report.
●
However, an FIR is the document that has
been prepared by the police after
verifying the facts of the complaint. The FIR may contain details of the
crime and the alleged criminal.
What
if the police refuse to register an FIR?
●
Under Section 154(3) CrPC, if any person
is aggrieved by the refusal on the part of the officer in charge of a police
station to register an FIR, she can send
the complaint to the Superintendent of Police/DCP concerned who, if
satisfied that such information discloses the commission of a cognizable
offence, will either investigate the case, or direct an investigation by a
subordinate police officer.
●
If no FIR is registered, the aggrieved
persons can file a complaint under Section 156(3) CrPC before a concerned court which, if satisfied that a cognizable
offence is made out from the complaint, will direct the police to register an
FIR and conduct an investigation.