Authored By: Dinesh Awana
FIRST INFORMATION REPORT
FIR is nowhere explicitly defined in the code or any other statute or legislation so far yet but the process of investigation initiates with the lodging of FIR under sec 154 of the code of criminal procedure. In the State of Rajasthan v. Shiv Singh, the Rajasthan High Court defined a First Information Report as ‘the statement of the maker of the report at a police station before a police officer recorded in the manner provided by the provisions of the Code. It isn’t viewed as the end of the case however a beginning stage of the case as it is only the victim side of the story which could be exaggerated, bogus, or even concocted and sometimes even filed just to implicate in the wrong case to settle scores and personal vendetta. When an innocent person is falsely implicated, he not only suffers from loss of reputation but also from mental tension, and his liberty is seriously impaired. It is pertinent to mention here that a delicate balance has to be maintained between the interest of the society and protecting the liberty of an individual.
FIR stands for first information report, a brief document consisting of facts related to the commission of an offense. FIR must have some information that suggests the commission of the crime with the object of setting the investigating authorities in motion. It is also not necessary that the information should contain minor details of the matter. It is not the encyclopedia of the entire prosecution case yet there should be some definite information. A cryptic message recording an occurrence cannot be termed as F.I.R.; Patai alias Krishna Kumar v. State of U.P AIR 2009 SC 1262. The purpose and object of giving such a telephonic message are not to lodge an FIR but to request the officer to reach the place of occurrence.
MANDATORY REGISTRATION OF F.I.R
The police officer is duty-bound to register the complaint of the victim if such information discloses the commission of cognizable offense without any delay and has no discretion in the matter. Genuineness or credibility of information is not a condition precedent for registration of case (Lallan Chaudhary v. State of Bihar AIR 2006 cr 164 SC. However, if information received does not disclose a cognizable offense but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether the cognizable offense is disclosed or not. If the case relates to several offenses of even one is cognizable offense then the whole case shall be dealt as cognizable case{155(4)}This Court in Pravin Chandra Mody v. State of A.P. [AIR 1965 SC 1185] has held that while investigating a cognizable offense and presenting a charge-sheet for it, the police are not debarred from investigating any non-cognizable offense arising out of the same facts and including them in the charge-sheet and it would not be open to the police to investigate the cognizable offenses only and omit the non-cognizable offenses. In a landmark judgment of Lalita Kumari v. State of UP 2013 court laid down few illustrations where a preliminary inquiry may be conducted by police; Matrimonial disputes/family disputes, Commercial offenses, medical negligence cases, Corruption cases, Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for the delay. The inquiry has to be completed within 7 days and all the entries shall be recorded in the general diary of a police station. General Diary entry may be treated as an FIR in an appropriate case where it discloses the commission of the cognizable offense. (Supt. Of Police v. Tapan Singh CBI 2003 Cr LJ 2322). If the police refuse to file the complaint aggrieved can approach the superintendent of police who further can proceed with the investigation or direct a subordinate to him to investigate. If the crime has been committed against a woman only a lady officer shall record her statement in presence of her parents or guardian and also provide a copy of the complaint to the complainant free of cost.
Delay in filing FIR
Sometimes victim wonders whether or not to file a complaint against crime particularly in rape and sexual harassment cases as the standing of a family are included. Mere delay in lodging FIR is not necessarily fatal to the case of the prosecution however the fact that the report was lodged belatedly is a relevant factor of which the court must take notice (Ramdas v. State of Maharashtra AIR 2007 SC 155). Delay in lodging the first information report quite often results in embellishment which is a creature of an afterthought and when the FIR is lodged immediately after its occurrence possibility of any deliberation to falsely implicate is ruled out. If the delay caused by a party has been reasonably explained then a court may condone the delay. In the instance case, the place of occurrence was only 100 yards from the police station, and the injured was taken to the hospital without lodging the FIR promptly. The explanation and the conduct of the information indicated that time was sought to rope in the innocents instead of the real culprits. As such the prosecution story implicating the innocent could not be accepted to convict the accused (Bejoy Singh v. State of Bihar AIR 2002 SC 1949). No Duration of time can be fixed as sensible for giving information to the police, the subject of reasonable time being a matter for determination by the facts and surrounding circumstances of each case.
Zero FIR
It is clearly stated that the delay over the determination of the territorial jurisdiction leads to wastage of time and prompts wrongdoers to get a chance to slip from the grip of law. A person can file a complaint in any police station which need not be in charge of that area of the incident but can later transfer the case to an appropriate station where the case falls. In any case, it has to be stated that because of Section 178(c) of the Code, when it is uncertain in which of the several local areas an offense was committed, or where it consists of several acts done in different local areas, the said offense can be inquired into or tried by a Court having jurisdiction over any of such local areas. Satvinder Kaur vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi.
Evidentiary Value of FIR
FIR is not regarded as substantive or conclusive evidence generally in most cases and can only be used to corroborate or contradict the testimony of the witnesses and informer under sec 145 and 157 of the Indian evidence act. It has been held that a village complaint cannot be admitted into evidence as a report under sec 154 to use FIR in corroborating the testimony, of those who are attracted to do so. (Ramchandra v. State of Haryana 1981 SC 1036). If FIR has been filed by the accused himself it is only admissible as evidence under sec 8 of evidence act and if such statement involved incriminating facts and confession then neither it can be used against the maker of the report nor can it be used to corroborate or contradict other witnesses Nishar Ali v. State AIR 1957 SC 366.
An FIR filed by the victim a few moments before his/her death under the apprehension of death explaining the circumstances of his death could be used as a piece of evidence under sec 32 of the Indian evidence act. In the Nirbhaya case judges observed that it’s not essential that the declaration has to be in written form but it could be in gestures also. Although the dying declaration itself is not a concrete form of evidence but can be substantiated with some primary evidence. Indian law jurisprudence governs on a general principle of “truth sits upon the lips of a dying man” and “no one is supposed to lie when dying”. In the instant case of Kaushal Rao v. the State of Bombay convicted the accused solely based on dying declaration and held that once the dying declaration is found to be true and voluntary, can be made the basis of conviction without any further corroboration.
Articles and web links
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1126/FIR.html#:~:text=in%20the%20code.-,F.I.R%20is%20not%20the%20be%20all%20and%20end%20all%20of,sec%208%20of%20Evidence%20Act.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.ipleaders.in/first-information-report-everything-important-you-should-know-about/amp/
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a750ca41-1b94-445e-aa91-96c009bed6e5#:~:text=Section%20154%20of%20the%20CrPC,read%20out%20to%20the%20informant.
https://advocatetanmoy.com/what-is-zero-fir/
