First Information Report (FIR) in Criminal Cases (Grade A+)

Summary:

Section 154(1) of the Indian Penal Code discusses the process of reporting information to the police in cases of cognizable offences. It states that any oral or written information related to such an offence should be recorded by the officer in charge of the police station. The information should be signed by the informant and entered into a book called the Station Diary or General Diary, as prescribed by the State Government.

Suppose the offence is alleged to have been committed against a woman, particularly in certain sexual offences or offences against the physically or mentally disabled. In that case, the information should be recorded by a woman police officer or any woman officer. The recording should be videographed, and the person’s statement should be recorded by a Judicial Magistrate as soon as possible.

A copy of the recorded information should be provided to the informant without any cost. Suppose an officer in charge of a police station refuses to record the information. In that case, the aggrieved person can send the substance of the information in writing and by post to the Superintendent of Police, who can then initiate an investigation.

Filing a First Information Report (FIR) aims to obtain a true or nearly true account of the events connected with a crime and to provide a check on the prosecution’s tendency to fill gaps in their own narrative.

Excerpt:

First Information Report (FIR) in Criminal Cases

LECTURE 2 (FIR)

CHAPTER XII

INFORMATION TO THE POLICE AND THEIR POWERS TO INVESTIGATE

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 book to be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf.