Article by Vijay Pal Dalmia, Advocate
Supreme Court of India & Delhi High
Court
Email id: vpdalmia@vaishlaw.com
Mobile No.: +91 9810081079
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As per Section 154 Cr.P.C./ 175 of BNSS it is provided that it is the duty of the Police Officer to lodge the FIR, if the information discloses the commission of a cognisable offence; thus, in respect of any cognizable offence for lodging the FIR is mandatory for the in-charge of the police station concerned.
The Five Judges' Bench of the Hon'ble Apex Court in Lalita Kumari vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others reported in MANU/SC/1166/2013 : (2014) 2 SCC 1, having considered a catena of the judgments, held that the FIR is a pertinent document in the criminal law procedure of our country and its main object from the point of view of the informant is to set the criminal law in motion and from the point of view of the investigating authorities, is to obtain information about the alleged criminal activity so as to be able to take suitable steps.
The Hon'ble Apex Court summarized the law as follows:
i) Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 Cr.P.C., if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
ii) If the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
iii) If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered. In cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week. It must disclose reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
iv) The police officer cannot avoid his 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.
v) 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.
Section 154 Cr.P.C./ 175 of BNSS. deals regarding Police Officer's power to investigate in cognizable offence; as per section the in-charge police station have a power to investigate the matter without the order of the Magistrate in a cognisable offence; as per sub-Section 3 of Section 156 Cr.P.C., any Magistrate empowered under section 190 may order such an investigation as above mentioned. Section 190 Cr.P.C. deals with the power of the Magistrate for taking cognizance.
By
Vijay Pal Dalmia, Advocate
Supreme Court of India & Delhi High Court
Email id: vpdalmia@vaishlaw.com
Mobile No.: +91 9810081079
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vpdalmia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vpdalmia
X (Twitter): @vpdalmia
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