SC: Cops must file FIRs when serious offences are reported
‘Refusal To Do So Will Invite Penal Action’
Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it mandatory for police to register a First Information Report (FIR) on receiving a complaint about a serious offence, freeing criminal investigation from the rampant abuse of discretionary powers by the local thana incharge.
“If discretion, option or latitude is allowed to the police in the matter of registration of FIRs, it can have serious consequences on the public order situation and can also adversely affect the rights of the victims including violation of their fundamental right to equality,” said a five-judge constitution bench of Chief Justice PSathasivam and Justices B S Chauhan, Ranjana P Desai, Ranjan Gogoi and S A Bobde.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Sathasivam said, “It would be incongruous to suggest that though it is the duty of every citizen to inform about commission of an offence, but it is not obligatory on the officer-in-charge of a police station to register the report.”
This order will help stamp out the chronic practice among police across the country to either refuse or delay registering FIRs with the object of keeping crime figures artificially low or, worse, favouring influential accused.
“Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such situations,” the court said. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) categorizes those offences as cognizable which attract a minimum of three years imprisonment as punishment.
Apart from refusing to register FIRs on complaints by the poor and the marginal, the police develop cold feet in recording an FIR if the accused is an influential person. Refusal to register FIR in such cases would be punishable, the court warned.
From now, police must register FIR and can close it if they find no evidence to substantiate charges made in the complaint after investigation.
“The police cannot avoid its duty of registering offence if cognizable offence is disclosed. Action must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR if information received by him discloses a cognizable offence,” the bench said.
A two-judge bench of the apex court had in 2008 ruled that registration of FIR was mandatory on complaints alleging commission of serious offences. But, given the wide ramification of the issue, it was later referred to a five-judge constitution bench.
‘NO DISCRETION, OPTION OR LATITUDE’
In 2008, two-judge bench of SC said registration of FIR mandatory on complaint
alleging serious offences
Referred to five-judge constitution bench, which agrees with earlier order but says registration must on allegation of cognizable offence
If complainant doesn’t disclose, then preliminary inquiry must be done only to verify if offence is cognizable Cops doubt order’s practicality I PS officers welcomed the SC order saying it would help police records reflect the actual incidence of crime, but many doubted if cops, with their limited manpower and resources, could handle the deluge of FIRs it would entail. “There’s need to spell out what kind of cognizable offences should immediately lead to FIRs. Otherwise, it’s impractical,” an officer said. TNN Enter all info in diary before filing FIR, says SC
New Delhi: The constitution bench, which agreed with the two-judge bench, said if the complaint or the information received “did not disclose a cognizable offence but indicated the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not”.
“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,” the court said.
Importantly, the court ordered the police to enter in its daily diary all information received about cognizable offences prior to registration of FIR.
“Since the general diary/station diary/daily diary is the record of all information received in a police station, we direct all information relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, to be mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the said diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry must also be reflected,” the bench said.
Source:
Times of India 13/11/2013
From India, Malappuram
1444‘Refusal To Do So Will Invite Penal Action’
Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it mandatory for police to register a First Information Report (FIR) on receiving a complaint about a serious offence, freeing criminal investigation from the rampant abuse of discretionary powers by the local thana incharge.
“If discretion, option or latitude is allowed to the police in the matter of registration of FIRs, it can have serious consequences on the public order situation and can also adversely affect the rights of the victims including violation of their fundamental right to equality,” said a five-judge constitution bench of Chief Justice PSathasivam and Justices B S Chauhan, Ranjana P Desai, Ranjan Gogoi and S A Bobde.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Sathasivam said, “It would be incongruous to suggest that though it is the duty of every citizen to inform about commission of an offence, but it is not obligatory on the officer-in-charge of a police station to register the report.”
This order will help stamp out the chronic practice among police across the country to either refuse or delay registering FIRs with the object of keeping crime figures artificially low or, worse, favouring influential accused.
“Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such situations,” the court said. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) categorizes those offences as cognizable which attract a minimum of three years imprisonment as punishment.
Apart from refusing to register FIRs on complaints by the poor and the marginal, the police develop cold feet in recording an FIR if the accused is an influential person. Refusal to register FIR in such cases would be punishable, the court warned.
From now, police must register FIR and can close it if they find no evidence to substantiate charges made in the complaint after investigation.
“The police cannot avoid its duty of registering offence if cognizable offence is disclosed. Action must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR if information received by him discloses a cognizable offence,” the bench said.
A two-judge bench of the apex court had in 2008 ruled that registration of FIR was mandatory on complaints alleging commission of serious offences. But, given the wide ramification of the issue, it was later referred to a five-judge constitution bench.
‘NO DISCRETION, OPTION OR LATITUDE’
In 2008, two-judge bench of SC said registration of FIR mandatory on complaint
alleging serious offences
Referred to five-judge constitution bench, which agrees with earlier order but says registration must on allegation of cognizable offence
If complainant doesn’t disclose, then preliminary inquiry must be done only to verify if offence is cognizable Cops doubt order’s practicality I PS officers welcomed the SC order saying it would help police records reflect the actual incidence of crime, but many doubted if cops, with their limited manpower and resources, could handle the deluge of FIRs it would entail. “There’s need to spell out what kind of cognizable offences should immediately lead to FIRs. Otherwise, it’s impractical,” an officer said. TNN Enter all info in diary before filing FIR, says SC
New Delhi: The constitution bench, which agreed with the two-judge bench, said if the complaint or the information received “did not disclose a cognizable offence but indicated the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not”.
“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,” the court said.
Importantly, the court ordered the police to enter in its daily diary all information received about cognizable offences prior to registration of FIR.
“Since the general diary/station diary/daily diary is the record of all information received in a police station, we direct all information relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, to be mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the said diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry must also be reflected,” the bench said.
Source:
Times of India 13/11/2013
From India, Malappuram
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