NEW SERIES- Questions And Answers For Judicial Service Examinations- By Justice V. Ramkumar [1]- FIR-Part-I

A. INVESTIGATION LEADING TO "POLICE REPORT" OR "COMPLAINT" AND CRIMINAL TRIAL CULMINATING IN THE JUDGMENT A1. INVESTIGATION BY THE POLICE Q.1 What is an FIR? Ans. An FIR is the First Information Report forming the "information" given to the officer-in-charge of a Police station (Station House Officer – "SHO" for short) regarding the commission of a cognizable offence and recorded by the SHO under Section 154 Cr.P.C. (Vide para 11 of Apren Joseph @ Current Kunjunju v. State of Kerala (1973) 3 SCC 114 = AIR 1973 SC 1 – 3 Judges - J. M. Shelat – Ag. CJI, I. D. Dua, H. R. Khanna - JJ ). FIR in a criminal case is an extremely vital and valuable piece of evidence for the purpose of corroborating the oral evidence adduced at the trial. The importance of the above report can hardly be overestimated from the standpoint of the accused alone. The object of insisting upon prompt lodging of the report to the Police is to obtain early information regarding the circumstances in which the crime was committed, the names of the actual culprits and the part played by them as well as the names of the eye witnesses present at the scene of occurrence. Delay in lodging the FIR quite often results in embellishment which is a creature of afterthought. (Vide para 12 of Thulia Kali v. State of T.N. (1972) 3 SCC 393 = AIR 1973 SC 501 – H. R. Khanna, G. K. Mitter - JJ; Meharaj Singh v. State of U.P. (1994) 5 SCC 188 = 1995 Cri.L.J. 457 – Dr. A. S. Anand, Faizan Uddin - JJ). FIR is in the nature of a complaint or accusation, or at least information of a crime given with the object of setting the Police in motion. (For a detailed discussion on what is a First Information Statement and First Information Report, please refer to the Article of Justice U.L. Bhat published in 2014 (1) KLT – journal, page 57). An FIR given to an officer-in-charge of a Police station ("SHO" for short) is registered by him by recourse to Section 154 Cr.P.C. The said Section is reproduced herebelow:- "Section 154: Information in cognizable cases (1) 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: Provided that if the information is given by the woman against whom an offence under Section 326A, Section 326B, Section 354, Section 354A, Section 354B, Section 354C, Section 354D, Section 376, 55A[Section 376A, Section 376AB, Section 376B, Section 376C, Section 376D, Section 376DA, Section 376DB], Section 376E or Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) is alleged to have been committed or attempted, then such information shall be recorded, by a woman police officer or any woman officer: Provided further that-- (a) in the event that the person against whom an offence under Section 354, Section 354A, Section 354B, Section 354C, Section 354D, Section 376, 55A[Section 376A, Section 376AB, Section 376B, Section 376C, Section 376D, Section 376DA, Section 376DB], Section 376E or Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) is alleged to have been committed or attempted, is temporarily or permanently mentally or physically disabled, then such information shall be recorded by a police officer, at the residence of the person seeking to report such offence or at a convenient place of such person's choice, in the presence of an interpreter or a special educator, as the case may be; (b) the recording of such information shall be videographed; (c) the police officer shall get the statement of the person recorded by a Judicial Magistrate under clause (a) of sub-section (5A) of Section 164 as soon as possible. (2) A copy of the information as recorded under sub-section (1) shall be given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant. (3) Any person, aggrieved by a refusal on the part of an officer in charge of a police station to record the information referred to in sub-section (1) may send the substance of such information, in writing and by post, to the Superintendent of Police concerned who, if satisfied that such information discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, shall either investigate the case himself or direct an investigation to be made by any police officer subordinate to him, in the manner provided by this Code, and such officer shall have all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in relation to that offence." So, the "information" given to the SHO should be in respect of a "cognizable offence". Q.2 What ...

NEW SERIES- Questions And Answers For Judicial Service Examinations- By Justice V. Ramkumar [1]- FIR-Part-I

Justice V Ramkumar

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