This article is written by Team LawSikho. This article discusses the First Information Report.

Introduction

What is a First Information Report (FIR)?

First Information Report (FIR) is a written document which is prepared when the police first receive information about the commission of a crime. It contains the details of the informant, the details of the crime, and the date and time it was committed according to the informant.

An FIR is the first step towards any sort of criminal activity. It triggers the criminal justice machinery of the State into motion. If you want to report a crime and initiate criminal proceedings by the police, the first step is to file an FIR.

The FIR should be based on a factual happening to which the informant is a witness or should be based on some evidence which the informant has. It should not be based on vague or hearsay communication which the informant may have received.

Who can file an FIR?

Any person who is a victim of a crime, any person on his/her behalf can, or any person who has information about a crime having been committed can file an FIR with a police station in whose jurisdiction the crime has taken place. A police officer who comes to know about a cognizable offense having been committed can file an FIR himself/herself.

The complaint can be lodged for the oral or written wrong allegation or any other crime. A person who has seen the crime will be a witness.

To know more about the scope of how to file an FIR – online and offline in brief, please refer to the video below:

For what kind of crimes can an FIR be registered?

An FIR can be registered for cognizable offenses. All crimes are divided into two categories – cognizable and non-cognizable.

A cognizable offense is one where the police is empowered to arrest without a warrant and can carry out the investigation without orders from a Magistrate. A non-cognizable offense is one where the police require orders from the Magistrate to investigate, and a warrant from the Magistrate to arrest.

Under Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, offenses which are punishable with imprisonment for less than three years are listed in the First Schedule to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as non-cognizable, while those which are punishable with imprisonment for three years or greater are cognizable. (You can find the schedule here and find out for yourself whether the crime is cognizable or not). In case you visit a police station and inform the police about a crime which is non-cognizable, the police will not take down your complaint and forward you to the Magistrate.  

How to file an FIR?

Getting your FIR filed is one of the biggest real-life challenges. We will see the process of filing an FIR here. Practical challenges in the process and how to get around them will be reviewed in a later chapter in this tutorial.   

To file an FIR, a person may approach the officer in charge of a police station within whose local limits a crime has taken place (don’t confuse it with the police chowki). An exception to this is a zero FIR, which can be filed in a police station anywhere and which the police will forward to the station of the relevant jurisdiction. However, this provision is not uniformly followed, and this is the case with several other innovative processes (such as e-FIR) with respect to the filing of FIR. Hence, you must first know the standard process.

At the police station, the description of the incident is usually provided in writing by the person reporting the offense. If he or she is illiterate or unable to write then an oral narration can be provided, which is written down by the police officer and narrated to the informant for his confirmation. The informant is then required to sign on the FIR.

Another way is that a person can dial 100, and the police control van, which is patrolling the area will reach the scene of the crime and take details of the incident. Thereafter, this information will be converted into the format of an FIR at the relevant police station. This is not a foolproof process, and it is advisable to go to the police station to lodge the FIR for minimal chances of error even after the PCR van takes the details.

In some cases, e-filing of the FIR may be possible (discussed separately).

A daily diary is maintained in every police station and the substance of the FIR is entered into the same.

Rights of the informant

The informant (and whomever he/she implicates) is entitled to a free copy of the FIR from the police station. No money is required to be paid while filing the FIR or to obtain a copy of the same. It is advisable to retain the copy of the FIR, and particularly, note the FIR number, date and police station where it was recorded, since this may help for future reference. The format in which the FIR is recorded varies from state to state. However, it contains certain details which are common.