Format of the F.I.R.
Book No. ___________
FORM NO. 24.5 (1)
FIRST INFORMATION REPORT
First Information of a Cognizable Crime Reported under Section 154, Criminal Penal Code
Police Station .................................... District .............................. No ..................
Date and hour of Occurrence .....................
1.Date and hour when reported
2.Name and residence of informer and complainant.
3.Brief description of offence (with section) and of property carried off, if any.
4.Place of occurrence and distance and direction from the Police Station.
5.Name & Address of the Criminal.
6.Steps taken regarding investigation explanation of delay in regarding information.
7.Date and Time of despatch from Police Station.
Signature .......................
Designation ................................
(First information to be recorded below)
NOTE:- The signature of seal or thumb impression of the informer should be at the end of the information and the signature of the Writer of (FIR) should be existed as usual.
What is an FIR? When it can be filed?
First Information Report (FIR) is a written document prepared by the police when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. Cognizable Offence is an offence is one in which the police may arrest a person without warrant. They are authorised to start an investigation into a cognizable case on their own and they do not require any orders from the court to do so. A police officer is bound to register the FIR in such cases and can even start an investigation without any FIR. These are heinous crimes generally and non-bailable offences. First Information Report 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. Even a telephonic message can be treated as an FIR. If the information given by the woman against whom an offence u/s 326A,326 B, 354, 354A-D,376,376A-E and 509 of Indian Penal Code is alleged then such information shall be recorded by a women police officer.
* You should sign the report only after verifying that the information recorded by the police is as per the details given by you.
* People who cannot read or write must put their left thumb impression on the document after being satisfied that it is a correct record.
* Always ask for a copy of the FIR, if the police do not give it to you. It is your right to get it free of cost.
Non-cognizable Offence
A non-cognizable offence is an offence in which a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant. The police cannot investigate such an offence without the court’s permission.
Is it mandatory for police to investigate every case reported to them?
The police may not investigate a complaint even if you file an FIR, when:
(i) The case is not serious in nature;
(ii) The police feel that there is not enough ground to investigate. However, the police must record the reasons for not conducting an investigation and in the latter case must also inform you. —(Section 157, Criminal Procedure Code, 1973)
157. Procedure for investigation preliminary inquiry.
(1) If from information received or otherwise, an officer in charge of a police station has reason to suspect the commission of an offence which he is empowered under section 156 to investigate, he shall forthwith send a report of the same to a Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of such offence upon a police report and shall proceed in person, or shall depute one of his subordinate officers not being below such rank as the State Government may, by general or special order, prescribe in this behalf, to proceed, to the spot, to investigate the facts and circumstances of the case, and, if necessary, to take measures for the discovery and arrest of the offender; Provided that-
(a) when information as to the commission of any such offence is given against any person by name and the case is not of a serious nature, the officer in charge of a police station need not proceed in person or depute a subordinate officer to make an investigation on the spot;
(b) if it appears to the officer in charge of a police station that there is no sufficient ground for entering on an investigation, he shall not investigate the case.
(2) In each of the cases mentioned in clauses (a) and (b) of the proviso to subsection (1), the officer in charge of the police station shall state in his report his reasons for not fully complying with the requirements of that subsection, and, in the case mentioned in clause (b) of the said proviso, the officer shall also forthwith notify to the informant, if any, in such manner as may be prescribed by the State Government, the fact that he will not investigate the case or cause it to be investigated.
Where the FIR should be filed and what is the procedure for filing?
An FIR should be filed in the police station of the concerned area in whose jurisdiction the offence took place.
What is the procedure for filing an FIR?
Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 lays down the procedure for lodging an FIR-
(i) Written Form: When the information about the commission of a cognizable offence is given orally, the police must write it down.
(ii) Read Over: A person giving the information or making a complaint, can demand that the information recorded by the police to be read over to him/her.
(iii) Verification: One should sign the report only after verifying that the information recorded by the police is as per the details given by you.
(v) Signature: Once the information has been recorded by the police, it must be signed by the person giving the information. It is to be kept in mind that people who are unable to read or write are expected to put their left thumb impression on the document after being satisfied that it is a correct record.
If an informer refuses to sign the F. I. R. he is guilty of offence u / section 180 of the Indian Penal Code which is as follows...-
‘Whoever refuse to sign on any statement made by him, when required to sign that statement by a public servant, legally competent to require that he shall sign that statement, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both”.
If the Police Officers refuses to enter the FIR and instead enters in D.D. Register a totally different and false report, he is guilty u/section 177/167/218 IPC
If an informer refuses to sign the FIR. he is guilty of offence u / section 180 Indian Penal Code which is as follows..-
‘Whoever refuse to sign on any statement made by him, when required to sign that statement by a public servant, legally competent to require that he shall sign that statement, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both”.
If the Police Officers refuses to enter the FIR and instead enters in D.D. Register a totally different and false report, he is guilty u/s 177/167/218 IPC
(vi) Copy of an FIR
A person filing an FIR has the right of getting a copy of FIR free of cost.
Can a multiple FIRs be filed on the same cause of action?
In Surender Kaushik & Ors vs State Of U.P & Ors
24: From the aforesaid decisions, it is quite luminous that the lodgment of two FIRs is not permissible in respect of one and the same incident. The concept of sameness has been given a restricted meaning. It does not encompass filing of a counter FIR relating to the same or connected cognizable offence. What is prohibited is any further complaint by the same complainant and others against the same accused subsequent to the registration of the case under the Code, for an investigation in that regard would have already commenced and allowing registration of further complaint would amount to an improvement of the facts mentioned in the original complaint. As is further made clear by the three-Judge Bench in Upkar Singh (supra), the prohibition does not cover the allegations made by the accused in the first FIR alleging a different version of the same incident. Thus, rival versions in respect of the same incident do take different shapes and, in that event,, lodgment of two FIRs is permissible.
What are Supreme Court directions to be followed in regards to the registration of an FIR?
Directions for FIR in Lalita Kumari v Govt. of Uttar Pradesh (2014) 2 SCC 1
(i) It is mandatory under section 154 of the Code to get an FIR registered if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
(ii) A preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether a cognizable offence is disclosed or not, in case the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry,
(iii) FIR must be registered, if the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence.a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week in cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint. Reasons must be disclosed and stated in brief for the complaint being closed and not being proceeded further.
(iv) No police officer can avoid his duty of registering offence if a cognizable offence has been committed and is hence disclosed. Strict steps must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR in case of cognizable offences.
(v) The scope of preliminary inquiry is only to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable offence and not to verify the veracity of the information received.
(vi) The category of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under-
(a) Cases of Matrimonial disputes family disputes
(b) Matters of Commercial offences
(c) Cases involving medical negligence.
(d) Matters of Corruption cases
(e) Abnormal delayed cases wherein initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months have already passed.
The above are non-exhaustive conditions.
(vii) A preliminary inquiry should be made time-bound and in any case, it should not exceed 7 days while ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant. Any reason or fact of such delay must be reflected in the General Diary entry.
(viii) It is a mandatory practice as directed by the Supreme Court that since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information received in a police station, all information relating to cognizable offences, either resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, must be meticulously reflected in the diary, no matter even if it is a preliminary inquiry.
