Vanshika Jaiswal
FIR means if any person commits a cognizable offense then the FIR contains information about that crime. Section 154 of the code of criminal procedure which provides the detailed procedure to register the FIR. The officer incharge of the police station is duty bound to record the information as FIR. A FIR is an important document as it sets the process of criminal justice in motion. It is only when the FIR is registered in the police station that the police take up investigation of the case. No police officer shall investigate a non-cognizable case without the order of a magistrate having power to try such a case to commit the case for a trial stated under section 155.
There is difference between a complaint and FIR under crpc that is a complaint is an oral or in writing a piece of information about an offense to a magistrate. The FIR is the information given to a police officer in charge of a station regarding the offense being committed and it must be reduced in writing. There is the concept of zero FIR where the right of a citizen to file FIR at any nearest police station irrespective of territorial jurisdiction.
The FIR can be filed by an aggrieved person or somebody on his behalf, a hearsay or an accused himself/herself or an eye witness and by the SHO on his own knowledge or information even when a cognizable offense is committed in view of an officer in charge.
The information given to the police officer for registration of a case must be authentic and bona fide. It may be a hearsay but the person who reports should take the responsibility of it and mention the source of information. A hearsay person is a person who has heard about the incident or got any information of any crime. If the information given by the woman against whom an offense under punishment for acid attacks, assault with any woman intending to outrage her modesty,rape,intending to insult the modesty of any woman of the Indian Penal Code is alleged then such information shall be recorded by a woman police officer. A cognizable offense in which the police officer has the supreme authority to arrest any person or authority without a warrant and to be able to start the investigation without the permission of the court is termed as a cognizable offense.
An essentials conditions to be known while reporting or recording the information:
- An information need to be conveyed
- In what capacity the crime
- Against whom the crime was committed
- When was the crime initiated
- Where did the crime take place
- What was the motive behind
- Witnesses
- What traces left by the accused
Procedures of filing FIR is written form, read over, verification, signature, copy of FIR. Not only this the FIR holds an evidentiary value also such as for contradicting purposes the evidence of person giving the information is important, to prove the informer’s conduct, in order to establish identity of the accused, witnesses and spot time as relevant facts but these are not a substantive evidence but sometimes the FIR is
a substantive evidence when it is given as a dying declaration, when the injured makes a statement to the SHO at the time of SHO presence when the accused has been injured during that time.
If policeman refuses to record FIR then one can bring the complaint to the notice of the superintendent of Police or any other concerned official by meeting them directly, you can also sent a complainant toe the superintendent of police by post also, if the officers satisfies with the FIR then either he himself investigate a case or order police to investigates, one has the option to file a private complainant before the court having jurisdiction, one can approach the State Human rights commission or national human rights commission in case the police act in a negligence or biased manner.
Content of an FIR:
- Name and address of the victim
- The exact date and time of the offense
- Accurate facts of the case
- Detailed of any other person if involved in the offense
- Location of the offense committed.
