This article is written by Team LawSikho. This article discusses how soon an FIR should be lodged.

How soon should an FIR be filed?

There is no period within which it is prescribed that an FIR should be filed. But it must be filed as soon as possible after a person has become aware of the commission of an offense.

What are the consequences if an FIR is filed late?

There is no standard metric of what period of delay is acceptable – that may vary depending on the situation and circumstances of a particular case. However, if the informant can provide sufficient reasons to explain why he or she was prevented from filing the FIR earlier, the delay will not prejudice the FIR. The reasons for any delay should be mentioned (or narrated, in case the person is illiterate) in the FIR itself.

Delay in filing the FIR affects its credibility significantly. In the event that there is a deliberate delay, the courts may take a view that the FIR was filed either on the basis of afterthoughts or even doubt the motive with which it was filed.

The Supreme Court, in CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 562 of 2007 Bhajan Singh @ Harbhajan Singh; Ors. …Appellants Versus State of Haryana …Respondent WITH CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 982 of 2008 Joga Singh …The Appellant Versus State of Haryana …Respondent AND CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 983 of 2008  Nishabar Singh; Anr. …Appellants Versus State of Haryana …Respondent, held that:

Prompt and early reporting of the occurrence by the informant with all its vivid details give an assurance regarding its true version. In case, there is some delay in filing the FIR, the complainant must give an explanation for the same. Undoubtedly, delay in lodging the FIR does not make the complainant’s case improbable when such delay is properly explained. However, deliberate delay in lodging the complaint may prove to be fatal. In such case of delay, it also cannot be presumed that the allegations were an afterthought or had given a colored version of events.

In spite of the delay, if still, the FIR looks substantive from the point of view of the law, such delay will not result in letting the culprit escape.

However, delay in registration of FIR for heinous crimes is not a ground for acquittal in all cases. See a relevant article here.