Criminology

Police Science and Law Enforcement

First Information Report

 Role Name Affiliation
Principal Investigator Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh Vice Chancellor, National Law
University, Delhi
Co-Principal Investigator Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai Registrar, National Law University
Delhi
Paper Coordinator Dr. M.N.Bhatt Assistant Professor, Sardar, Patel
University of Police, Security and
CJ, Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Content Writer/Author Dr. M.N.Bhatt Assistant Professor, Sardar, Patel
University of Police, Security and
CJ, Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Content Reviewer Prof. (Dr.) S.S. Jaswal Mody University of Science and
Technology, Lakshmangarh, Sikar,
Rajasthan

DESCRIPTION OF MODULE

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Criminology
Paper Name Police Science and Law Enforcement
Module Name/Title First Information Report
Module Id Crim/PSLE/XVI
Objectives Learning Outcome:

 To make the learners understand about First

Information Report
 To make the learners understand about ways to lodge
FIR
 To make the learners understand about essentials for
FIR
 To make the learners understand Evidentiary value of
FIR

Prerequisites General understanding of the provisions of Code of Criminal

Procedure

Key words First Information Report, Cr. P.C. Evidentiary Value

 First Information Report

First Information Report

1. Introduction:
First Information Report is the report by any person who is aware about commission of a
cognizable offence either orally or in writing to the police. When a person reports any
information about a cognizable offence to the police, the police are bound to register a case and
proceed with investigation. However, for police to investigate the matter, the offence must be a
cognizable offence. The police are not allowed to investigate a non-cognizable offence without
an order from a magistrate.

2. Law related to FIR:

Section 154 of the Cr.P.C deals with the complaint to the police and their power to investigate,
which provides that:
(1). every information relating to the Commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally
to an officer-in-charge of a Police Station shall be
a) reduced to writing by him, or
b) under his direction, be read over to the informant (complainant), and
c) shall be signed by the person giving the information (complaint).
(2). The substances of the First information shall be entered in the general diary.
(3). A copy of the First Information Report form shall be given to the complainant
forthwith.
(4). The complainant, if aggrieved, by the refusal by the Station House Officer to record
the first information report may send his complaint in writing by post to the
Superintendent of Police concerned who may, if satisfied, investigate the case himself or
direct any Police officer subordinate to him to investigate the case.
As per Supreme Court, “A FIR means the information, by whomsoever given, to the officer in
charge of a police station in relation to the commission of a cognizable offence and which is first
in point of time and on the strength of which the investigation into that offence is commenced.”
(Bombay v. Rusy Mistry, AIR SC, 1960)
FIR merely contains the facts of the offence as known by the informant. The police must use
commonsense and record one statement as FIR where multiple persons are reporting same
incident. Usually, the statement that contains enough information to allow the police to proceed
with investigation is recorded as FIR. In the presence of the complainant, the duty officer shall
complete all the columns in the FIR register with the information given by the complainant. He
shall then read out all the contents of the FIR registered to the complainant. Once the
complainant is certain that all the details have been correctly written, he should sign the FIR.
3. Purpose and Object of FIR
The purpose of registration of FIR is manifold that is to say
(1) To reduce the substance of information disclosing commission of a cognizable offence, if
given orally, into writing.
(2) If given in writing to have it signed by the complainant
(3) To maintain record of receipt of information as regards commission of cognizable offences.
(4) To initiate investigation on receipt of information as regards commission of cognizable
offence.
(5) To inform Magistrate forthwith of the factum of the information received.

The principal object of the FIR from the point of view of the informant is to set the criminal
law in motion and from the point of view of the investigating authorities is to obtain
information about the alleged criminal activity so as to be able to take suitable steps to trace
and bring to book the guilty.

4. Ways to file FIR and Its Validity:

There are several ways to file FIR but all are with some requisites which should be meet with.
(a) Telegram or telephone message as FIR: A telegram transmitting message about the
commission of an offence to a Police officer shall not itself be treated as a FIR, at the
time of receipt of such information, its authenticity or authorship must be clear. Similarly
an information to the Station House Officer about an offence by telephone is not an FIR,
since it lacks authenticity and it is not possible to obtain the signature of the informant /
complainant as contemplated in section 154 Cr.P.C. In a telephonic message/email to
Police, the person conveying the information did not disclose his identity, nor did he give
any other particulars, such message is extremely cryptic and it shall not be regarded as
FIR.
(b) Complaints made by e-mail: An e-mail forwarded by the originator or informant, through
an electronic mail server to the addressee or the Police officer in charge of a Police
Station or to any superior Police officer, where facilities for e-mail are available, shall be
treated as the information, if its authenticity or authorship is clear.

5. Who can lodge an FIR?

Anyone who knows about the commission of a cognizable offence can file an FIR. It is not
necessary that only the victim of the crime should file an FIR. A police officer who comes to
know about a cognizable offence can file an FIR himself/herself. One can file an FIR if:
(a) The person against whom the offence has been committed;
(b) One know himself about an offence which has been committed;
(c) One has seen the offence being committed.
(d) By the Station House Officer (SHO) on his own knowledge or information even when a
cognizable offence is committed in view of an officer in-charge he can register a case himself
and is not bound to take down in writing any information. If information is only hear say, then
SHO should register case only if person in possession of hearsay subscribes his signature to it
and mentions the source of his information so that it does not amount to irresponsible rumors.
The information must be definite, not vague, authentic, not baseless, gossip or rumors, clearly
making out a cognizable case.

6. If FIR is not registered than one can:

(a) Meet the Superintendent of Police or other higher officers like Deputy Inspector General
of Police & Inspector General of Police and bring your complaint to their notice.
(b) Send your complaint in writing and by post to the Superintendent of Police concerned. If
the Superintendent of Police is satisfied with your complaint, he shall either investigate
the case himself or order an investigation to be made.
(c) File a private complaint before the court having jurisdiction.
(d) Also make a complaint to the State Human Rights Commission or the National Human
Rights Commission if the police does nothing to enforce the law or does it in a biased and
corrupt manner.

7. Zero-FIR
There is a concept of “Zero-FIR”. It means that a FIR can be filed in any police station
(i.e.: irrespective of place of incident/jurisdiction) and the same can be later transferred to the
appropriate Police Station. Crimes like murder, rape and accidents require immediate action from
the concerned police authorities so that they take appropriate samples, eye witnesses and other
circumstantial details. Zero FIR allows the authorities to pen down the initial action taken rather
than trying to figure out what had happened at the crime scene initially. In the case of Satvinder
Kaur vs. State (Government of NCT Delhi) 1031 of 1999, The Supreme Court held that, Police
can investigate the case, which does not fall under their jurisdiction.

8. Police Procedure after receiving Information:

 (a) Any information about the commission of an offence received by the Station House
Officer shall be without delay entered in the general diary and followed by that, steps
shall be taken to verify the authenticity or authorship of the information / message /
complaint and to obtain his signature.
(b) Where there is no possibility to obtain the signature of the sender of the message /
information, but the contents of the information have been found true, the signature of the
Station House Officer or any Police officer who verified the information must be affixed
to fulfill the requirements as laid down under section 154 Cr.P.C. and such cases, where
the Police officer in charge of the Police Station has become the complainant / informant
himself, would be called ‘suo-motu’.
(c) In cognizable cases i.e. substantial offences under the Indian Penal Code or / and under
the special and local, the Police will normally deal with the judicial magistrate. The First
Information Report should be sent to him as also the list of properties seized or
recovered, if they be such. The final report whether it is a referred case or a charge sheet
will also be sent to him for orders or trial, as the case may be.

9. Evidentiary Value of FIR

A FIR is not substantive evidence that it is not evidence of the facts which it mentions. However,
it is very important since it conveys the earliest information about the occurrence of an offence
and it can be used to corroborate the information under Section 157 of Indian Evidence Act or to
contradict him under Section 145 of Indian Evidence Act, if the informant is called as a witness
in a trial. It is considered that FIR has a better corroborative value if it is recorded before there is
time and opportunity to embellish or before the memory of the information becomes hazy. There
must be a reasonable cause for the delay.
Generally, an FIR by an accused amounts to a confession to a Police officer which is
inadmissible in law except the portion(s) of the disclosure statement / information of the accused
in custody, when discovered (section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act). Accordingly, if the FIR
was registered on the complaint of an accused, only that part of the statement which distinctly
relates to the discovery of the article is admissible in evidence.
10. Essentials for FIR:

(i) FIR should be lodged immediately. The longer the delay, the stronger the suspicion. The
delay should satisfactorily be explained. Delay, if any, in registering the case should be
recorded in FIR.
(ii) Written complaint should be given. But complainant should be specific while giving
written statement.
(iii) Written statement should be duly signed or put thumb impression.
(iv) Only a report of cognizable offence should be lodged in FIR.
 (v) Place, Date & Time of occurrence should be mentioned in the FIR. Names and
descriptions of the persons involved in the incident. Witnesses, if any
(vi) Arrival & Departure of the informer should be mentioned in the FIR as well as Daily
Dairy Register.
(vii) Four copies of FIR should be prepared simultaneously by carbon paper process.
(viii) FIR should be lodged in neat & clean hand writing and be kept in safe custody being a
permanent record.
(ix) A copy of FIR should be sent to Magistrate concerned immediately.
(x) A copy of FIR should be provided to the complainant free of cost.
(xi) Care should be taken that all the material facts are mentioned in FIR as known to the
complainant.
(xii) If information is available at the time, Names of the accused persons should occur in
F.I.R., if not, FIR can be registered in unknown accused person.
(xiii) An FIR once registered can only be quashed by High Court concerned.

11. Landmark Judgments on FIR

In the landmark case of Latika Kumar vs. Govt of UP & Others (In Writ Petition (CRL) no 68 of
2008), the Constitution Bench issued the following Guidelines relating to registration of FIR
i. Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the information
discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in
such a situation.
ii. If the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the
necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether
cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
iii. If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered.
In cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, a copy of the entry of
such closure must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week.
It must disclose reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
iv. The police officer cannot avoid his duty of registering offence if cognizable offence is
disclosed.
v. Action must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR if information
received by him discloses a cognizable offence.
vi. The scope of preliminary inquiry is not to verify the veracity or otherwise of the
information received but only to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable
offence.
vii. As to what type and in which cases preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will depend on
the facts and circumstances of each case. The category of cases in which preliminary
inquiry may be made are as under:
a. Matrimonial disputes/ family disputes
b. Commercial offences
 c. Medical negligence cases
d. Corruption cases
e. Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for
example, over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily
explaining the reasons for delay.
The aforesaid are only illustrations and not exhaustive of all conditions which may warrant
preliminary inquiry.
viii. While ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a preliminary
inquiry should be made time bound and in any case it should not exceed 15 (Maximum 6
Weeks). The fact of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in the General Diary
entry.
ix. Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information received
in a police station, we direct that all information relating to cognizable offences, whether
resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, must be mandatorily and
meticulously reflected in the said Diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry
must also be reflected, as mentioned above.
In the State Of Haryana V Bhajan Lal & Others AIR 1992 SC 604, Supreme Court Directed as:
1. An FIR must be registered as soon as information about a cognizable offence is received.
2. Before starting an investigation, police officers should make a rational inference that a
cognizable offence has been committed. The inference should be made solely on the basis
of facts mentioned in the FIR.
3. Courts will not as a rule interfere in the investigation process except in the following
circumstances when the High Court1 can cancel the FIR and other proceedings carried out
by the police:
i. Where the allegations in the FIR do not constitute any cognizable offence or justify an
investigation by the police.
ii. Where the allegations made in the FIR and the evidence collected by the police in support
of the allegations do not point towards the guilt of the accused.
iii. Where investigation has been carried out by the police in a non-cognizable offence
without the order of a magistrate.
iv. Where the Cr.P.C. or any other law expressly prohibits carrying out criminal proceedings
against the accused.
v. Where criminal proceedings have been started with dishonest intent to take revenge from
the accused.
 12. Summary:
First Information Report (FIR) is a written document prepared by the police when they receive
information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that
reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First Information Report. It
is generally a complaint lodged with the police by the victim of a cognizable offence or by
someone on his/her behalf. Anyone can report the commission of a cognizable offence either
orally or in writing to the police. An FIR is a very important document as it sets the process of
criminal justice in motion. It is only after the FIR is registered in the police station that the police
takes up investigation of the case.