May 11,2019:
The Author, Pranav Kaushal, is 4th Year, B.A.LL.B. (H) student of BAHRA UNIVERSITY. He is currently interning with LatestLaws.com.
INTRODUCTION
The basic and the foremost purpose of filing First Information Report is to set the criminal law into motion and not to state all the minute to minute details therein. The First Information Report is the initial step in a criminal case recorded by the police who contain the basic knowledge of the crime committed, place of commission, who was the victim etc. The definition of the First Information Report has been provided in the code of the Criminal Procedure of 1973 by virtue of Section 154 which lays down;
“Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to writing by him or under his direction, and be read Over to the informant; and every such information, whether given in writing or reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it, and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf”[1]. The Supreme Court in the case of T.T Antony v. State of Kerala, held some important points regarding section 154 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure, “Information given under Section 154 Commonly known as the First Information Report, though this term is not used in the code and as its nick name suggests, it is the earliest and the first information of the cognizable offence recorded by the officer in charge of the police station.
MEANING The information regarding commission of an offense has to be entered in a book available with the police. The information so recorded is called First Information Report i.e. F.I.R. It is information to the police station at first in point of time that an offense has been committed and on the basis of which the investigation is commenced. Vague, cryptic and indefinite telephonic information cannot be treated as F.I.R. But it need not be an encyclopaedia containing every minute detail of the offense.[2]There cannot be two F.I.R.s against the same accused in respect of the same offense. But rival versions in respect of the same episode may take the shape of two different F.I.R. and investigation can be carried on under both of them by the same investigating agency. Registering of F.I.R. includes only the process of entering the substance of the information relating to the commission of the cognizable offense in a book kept by the officer in charge of the police station.
PROVISIONS The information may relate to the commission of either cognizable offense or non-cognizable offense. Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code, provides with the cognizable offenses and Section 155 deals with the non-cognizable offenses. The book, mentioned in section 154 of CrPC, regarding cognizable offenses, is commonly known as Formal F.I.R. whereas the book, mentioned in section 155 of CrPC, regarding non-cognizable offenses, is commonly known as General Diary book.
EVIDENTIARY VALUE OF F.I.R. AND EFFECT OF DELAY
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India held in one case that the first information report is never treated as a substantive piece of evidence. It can only be used for contradicting or corroborating its maker when he appears in court as a witness. Its value must always depend on the facts and circumstances of a given case. The F.I.R. can only discredit the testimony of its maker. It can by no means be utilized for contradicting or discrediting the other witnesses. F.I.R not being a substantive piece of evidence cannot encroach upon the periphery of the evidence tendered by other witnesses with regard to the incident. The law has not fixed any time for lodging the F.I.R. In different Judicial pronouncements it has come out that the F.I.R. should be filed as promptly as possible and if delayed, the explanation for delay should be given in the F.I.R because delay in lodging the F.I.R often results in embellishment, which is a creature of an afterthought. On account of delay, the F.I.R. not only bereft of the advantage of spontaneity, but danger creeps with the introduction of a coloured version or exaggeration. Where the first information report regarding cognizable offense was lodged after considerable delay, it was held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court that it introduces serious infirmity in the prosecution case against the accused.
If the delay is unreasonable and not satisfactorily explained, it becomes fatal for the prosecution case. But where the delay is reasonable and was satisfactorily explained, the delay cannot by itself be a ground for disbelieving and disregarding the entire prosecution case. [3]
While deciding a famous rape case, where there was delay of 10 days and by way of explanation it was argued that as honour of family was involved its members had to decide whether to take the matter to court or not Hon’ble Supreme Court accepted the explanation as reasonable. [4]
ONLINE FIR
The two important things, which is needed to do before initiating any criminal proceeding is to either file a complaint or first information report. Complaint simply means an allegation against any person that he has committed an offence to be made in front of the magistrate, either orally or in writing but it does not include a police report. First Information Report or FIR is the report prepared by the police officer in furtherance of receiving information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence.
Complaint is generally made by the person against whom the offence has been committed. FIR can be lodged by the person against whom the offence is committed, by the person who knows that the offence has committed, or by the person who has seen the commission of an offence.
The procedure for filing FIR has been given under Section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. But what is not given under any law or code is the procedure for filing online complaint and FIR, this article will discuss the procedures for filing an online FIR / complaint.
Submission of Online FIR / Complaint
Visit the link (http://admis.hp.nic.in/himpol/Citizen/OnlineComplaints.aspx )
- It is a form where you have to fill various fields. At first you need to select your area.
- In second field you will get the list of Police Stations. Please select one which is nearest to your region.
- Now select the type of complaint you want to make in FIR.
- After this you need to describe your problem in detail. You should restrict your complaint to 2000 words. 2000 words are enough for all kind of problems/complaints.
- In the next part, you need to fill your personal details like name, address, mobile number etc.
- Once you are done with all the fields, hit Submit option at last.
ADVANTAGES OF FILING E-FIR
- With the help of online FIR, people will be able to register cases easily, as compared to register a case in Police Station.
- People often feel nervous and scared to go to the Police Station. After this technique, they will be able to register online FIRs very easily.
- By seeing the atrocities faced by women, registering an online FIR will be very easy for women.
- One should not face Police Negligence and Avoidance
DISADVANTGES OF FILING E-FIR
- Many people have face difficulty lying in front of the police, if we make it online then they will be able to tell lie and can make false accusations.
- Anyone can resort to messing up with someone’s image through online FIR Mode.
- If all the people started to register online FIR, the number of Online FIRs could increase.
- It is believed that 10 percent of the people in the registering FIR who make a complaint in India do so, it can be difficult to find online.
- Online FIR will make it easier to prosecute against anti-political and anti-caste castes.
- This method is not effective for those who do not have internet facility, live in far-flung areas or have no internet connection is not helpful for Online FIR Method.
CONCLUSION
The Law Commission is currently discussing to the Home Ministry on where it is being said that FIRs can be lodged online. At the same time, it will be described how to do it. In the case of Fake FIR under Section 182 of the IPC, it is being said that a new law should be made in the case where the person who filed a fake case should be punished for 5 years. At the same time, under section 154 of the CRPC, there is still some change in it.
References:
[1] Sec. 154, The Code of Criminal Procedure
[2] Manoj v. State of Maharashtra (JT 1999 (2) SC 58.
[3] Apren Joseph v. State of Kerala (AIR 1973 SC 1
[4] (Harpal Singh v. State of H.P. (AIR 1981 SC 361
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