- That FIR stands for First Information Report
- It's technically the first information, on record, regarding the commission of any offence. Hence it holds significant value in criminal investigation and the judicial process that may follow.
- Whenever one wishes to lodge an FIR in a Police Station, he may do it in writing or orally and the Police is bound to reduce the oral information into writing verbatim, as provided by the informant.
- The informant must sign the FIR
- He must be provided a copy of the FIR, free of cost, by the Police.
- The Police cannot refuse to lodge FIR and investigate a case on the ground that it does not find from the FIR that any offence has been committed or on the ground that the offence may have been committed in another jurisdiction.
- Whether or not a crime has actually been committed, is something which ultimately Courts decide, Police cannot decide it at the time of lodging FIR. It has to lodge FIR and start investigation.
- So also if the crime has indeed taken place in another locality beyond the jurisdiction of that Police Station, still then the Police cannot return the informant without lodging his FIR. What is legally incumbent upon the Police is that it should lodge the FIR and then forward it to the appropriate Police Station, after following all other legal formalities.
Any person aggrieved by a refusal on the part of an officer in charge of a police station to record the information 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 law.
The aggrieved informant may in the alternative, file a complaint case before the local Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) regarding the crime, also mentioning therein the factum of refusal by Poilce to lodge his FIR.
- Any person can lodge FIR. Its not at all necessary that the victim (s), or his relatives etc. only can lodge FIR.
- FIR should not be cryptic and incoherent. It should clearly describe, among others, the following minimum things :-
a) The name and address of the informant
b) The date, time and place of the occurrence
c) The offence / crime that is alleged
d) The identities of the offenders (if known to the informant)
- FIR should be lodged without any unreasonable delay. That strengthens the case a lot during trial in Court.
(*) A cognizable offence is one in which Police has power to arrest without warrant. All cognizable offences have been listed in the First Schedule appended to our Code of Criminal Procedure.
