The First Information Report (FIR) is the preliminary
info recorded by a police officer about an alleged
cognizable offence. Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973, mandates speedy registration of FIR upon receiving such
info. The idea of “Zero FIR” permits
registration of an FIR at any police station, no matter
jurisdiction, if the crime occurred elsewhere. The goal is to
facilitate fast redressal for victims and guarantee well timed motion.
Remedies can be found if police refuse to register a Zero FIR, and
motion could be taken towards delinquent officers. Courts and police
have issued circulars to emphasise the significance of registering
Zero FIRs to advertise efficient legislation enforcement and shield
victims’ rights.

I. Introduction: What is First Information Report (FIR)

The time period “First Information Report” (FIR) refers to
info recorded by a police officer on responsibility, supplied both
by the aggrieved individual or another particular person, relating to the
alleged fee of an offence. The police provoke their
investigation primarily based on the FIR. Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C) addresses info given to the police
and their authority to research. Within this chapter, Section
154 defines what constitutes the primary info (the reader could
profit by referring to the mentioned part).

Section 154(1) of Cr.P.C. accommodates 4 mandates for an officer
in-charge of a police station:

• The first enjoins that each info regarding the
  fee of a cognizable offence if given orally shall be diminished
  to writing.




• The second directs that it’s learn over to the informant,




• The third requires that each such info whether or not given in
  writing or diminished to writing shall be signed by the informant,
  and




• The fourth is that the substance of such info shall be
  entered within the station home diary.

In different phrases, the important components for registration of an
FIR are (1) what’s conveyed have to be info and (2) the mentioned
info ought to ex-facie disclose the fee of a cognizable
offence.

II. Mandatory registration of FIR:

There is a transparent provision in s. 154 Cr.P.C. for registration of
FIR in case of a cognizable offence. However, whether or not the FIR wants
to be registered instantly upon the receipt of data
relating to the cognizable offence or whether or not the police ought to apply
its thoughts relating to important statutory points having been complied
with, was a debatable level. This concern has now been settled by the
Supreme Court within the case of Lalita Kumari vs. Govt. of U.P.
& Ors.: AIR 2014 SC 187. In such case, the constitutional
bench of the Court held that the FIR ought to be registered
instantly¹.

III. The territorial jurisdiction of the Police:

The registration of the FIR signifies the onset of investigation
into the alleged offence. S. 156 of Cr.P.C. offers for the
territorial jurisdiction of the police station which shall keep on
such investigation and hyperlinks it with the jurisdiction of the
Court(s) inside the limits of such police station. Thus, the police
station inside whose limits the jurisdictional courtroom relating to the
offence lies, shall have the jurisdiction to research such
offence.

At the identical time, s. 156(2) of Cr.P.C. makes the place clear
by offering that no continuing of a police officer in any such
case shall at any stage be known as into query on the bottom that
the case was one which such officer was not empowered to
examine. Thus, this provision widens the powers of
investigation of the police.

S. 170 of Cr.P.C. particularly offers that if, upon an
investigation, it seems to the Officer answerable for the police
station that there’s enough proof or affordable floor of
suspicion to justify the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate,
such officer shall, ahead the accused beneath custody to a
Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence upon a
police report and to strive the accused or commit for trial.

On a conjoint studying of the aforementioned sections, it may be
understood that even when a police officer lacks jurisdiction over a
specific case, he can nonetheless register an FIR upon disclosure of
the fee of a cognizable offense. There isn’t any express
prohibition within the Cr.P.C. towards a police officer taking such
motion. If the investigating officer arrives on the conclusion that
the crime was not dedicated inside the territorial jurisdiction of
the police station, then F.I.R. could be forwarded to the police
station having jurisdiction over the world through which the crime is
dedicated. But this might not imply that in a case which requires
investigation, the police officer can refuse to document the FIR
and/or examine it. (Reference: Satvinder Kaur v. State
(Govt. of NCT of Delhi) & Anr., (1999) 8 SCC 728).

IV. Meaning of Zero FIR:

As already mentioned above, when it comes to s. 154 of Cr.P.C, if any
info regarding the fee of any cognizable offence is
acquired by a Police Station, the Police is responsibility sure to register
the FIR. However, if the crime doesn’t happen inside the
jurisdiction of the mentioned Police Station, the Police are nonetheless
duty-bound to register an FIR the place the details about a
cognizable offence is acquired. Such an FIR is termed as
‘Zero FIR.’ After registration of the
‘Zero FIR,’ the identical must be transferred to the involved
Police Station the place the offence has certainly been dedicated.

Thus, a Zero FIR could be registered in any police station the place
details about a cognizable offence is acquired no matter
whether or not it has territorial jurisdiction or not.

V. Enquiry or investigation in case of Zero FIR:

‘Zero FIR’ is an exception to the overall rule of
assigning a quantity to the FIR that’s registered in a police
station on the idea of the report that’s lodged with the police.
Therefore, a Zero FIR, because the title implies, is an FIR with no
serial quantity. Police can enquire or examine the case on the
foundation of the Zero FIR that’s registered and if the police officer
is of the opinion that the offence didn’t happen inside the
limits of his jurisdiction, he can ship/switch the FIR to the
applicable police station, which has obtained the jurisdiction.
Therefore, the place of crime and jurisdiction of the police
station turns into irrelevant when a cognizable offence is disclosed,
and the police station is obligated to immediately switch the
pertinent paperwork over to the police station vested with the
jurisdiction which numbers the FIR and begins the
investigation.

VI. Need for Zero FIR:

The provision of ‘Zero FIR’ got here up as a suggestion
within the Justice Verma Committee Report, within the new Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2013, after the horrendous Nirbhaya rape and
homicide case which befell in December 2012. The report states:
“A zero FIR could be filed by the sufferer,
no matter their residence or place of prevalence of
crime.” Thus, it may be said that the one
distinction between ‘FIR’ and ‘Zero FIR’ is that an
FIR is registered the place the incident has occurred inside the
jurisdiction of a selected Police Station, and a zero FIR could be
lodged at any Police Station no matter the place the incident has
taken place. A zero FIR is admittedly extra environment friendly and is supposed
to supply fast redressal to the sufferer in order that well timed motion can
be taken after registration of the FIR. (Reference: Neelu
Shrivastava vs State & Ors; 2021 SCC Online Del 5158).

VII. The aims behind Zero FIR:

• Ensuring speedy registration of FIR: The
  main goal of Zero FIR is to facilitate the short
  registration of an FIR with none delay. It permits aggrieved
  individuals to report crimes promptly, no matter the place the offence
  occurred.




• Addressing jurisdictional points: Zero FIR
  helps remove jurisdictional challenges that always come up when a
  crime is dedicated outdoors the jurisdiction of the police station
  through which the sufferer first reviews the incident. By accepting the
  FIR, the police station that receives the criticism initiates the
  investigation and might switch it to the suitable jurisdiction
  later.




• Protecting victims and witnesses: Zero FIR
  helps shield the rights of victims and witnesses by guaranteeing that
  their complaints are promptly recorded, thereby stopping any
  potential delay within the initiation of investigations. This goal
  is essential to sustaining belief within the prison justice system and
  encouraging victims to come back ahead with out concern.




• Promoting efficient legislation enforcement: By
  permitting for the speedy registration of FIRs, Zero FIR promotes
  efficient legislation enforcement. It ensures that the state equipment is
  swiftly put into motion thus facilitating the investigating
  businesses to take speedy motion and provoke the investigation
  course of, whatever the location of the crime.

VIII. Remedies obtainable if Zero FIR isn’t registered:

The cures obtainable to an individual in case, an officer in cost
of a police station refuses to register zero FIR are the identical as
that obtainable to him as within the case of an FIR. Therefore if a
police officer refuses to train the jurisdiction vested in him
and to register a case on the knowledge of a cognizable offence
reported and thereby violates the statutory responsibility forged upon him, the
individual aggrieved by such refusal can ship the substance of the
info in writing and by put up to the Superintendent of Police
involved who if happy that the knowledge forwarded to him
discloses a cognizable offence, would both examine the case
himself or direct an investigation to be made by any police officer
subordinate to him within the method supplied by s. 154(3) of
Cr.P.C.

Even after following the above process, if the Police fail to
register the FIR, the aggrieved individual can strategy the Justice of the Peace
courtroom beneath s. 156(3) of Cr.P.C. and file a criticism in search of
registration of FIR.

Hence, it may be understood that, beneath the legislation, the police can
register an FIR in case of a cognizable offence even when the offence
isn’t dedicated inside the jurisdiction of the police station. In
one other state of affairs, if on the time of registration of FIR, it’s
identified that the crime was dedicated outdoors the jurisdiction of the
police station, the police after the registration of FIR ought to
switch it to the involved police station for investigation. In
the above-mentioned circumstance, the police would usually
register a ‘Zero FIR’ after which switch it to the involved
police station.

Action beneath part 166-A of the Indian Penal
Code:

S. 166A(c) of the Indian Penal Code states as beneath:

“Whoever, being a Public Servant, fails to document any
info given to him beneath sub-section (1) of part 154 of
Cr.P.C., in relation to cognizable offence punishable beneath part
326A, part 326B, part 354, part 354B, part 370, part
370A, part 376, part 376A, part 376AB, part 376B,
part 376C, part 376D, part 376DA, part 376DB, part
376E or part 509, shall be punished with rigorous
imprisonment for a time period which shall not be lower than six months however
which can lengthen to 2 years, and shall even be liable to
wonderful.”

Thus, it may be seen that prosecution could be launched towards a
delinquent police officer who refuses to register FIR disclosing a
cognizable offence beneath the mentioned part. In pursuance of the
identical, not too long ago the division bench of the Karnataka High Court, on
19.09.2019, on the idea of a PIL petition in W.P. No. 30666/2019
whereby a criticism was made by the Petitioner concerning the
non-registration of FIRs on the bottom of territorial jurisdiction,
handed following instructions to be issued by the State
Government:

Thereafter when it comes to the instructions handed by the Hon’ble
High Court of Karnataka, the Karnataka police issued a round to
lodge Zero FIR and re-iterated the instructions of the Hon’ble
High Court for strict compliance by all of the unit officers.

Similar instructions have been handed by the Hon’ble Delhi High
Court in Kirti Vashisht vs State & Ors. 2019 SCC OnLine Del
11713, pursuant to which the Delhi Police issued a round
dated 20.12.2019 to be complied with by the cops for
registration of Zero FIR.

IX. Conclusion:

In conclusion, a Zero FIR is an FIR that may be registered at
any police station no matter its jurisdiction when the
details about a cognizable offence is acquired. It was
launched to make sure fast redressal to victims and forestall
pointless delays or obstacles within the means of registering a
criticism. The aims behind Zero FIR embody immediate
dedication of jurisdiction, thorough investigation, and well timed
motion. If a police officer refuses to register a Zero FIR,
cures obtainable embody approaching the Superintendent of Police
or submitting a criticism earlier than a Justice of the Peace courtroom. Action will also be
taken towards delinquent officers beneath s. 166-A of the Indian
Penal Code. The issuance of circulars by courts and police
departments emphasizes the significance of registering Zero FIRs.
Overall, a Zero FIR goals to facilitate immediate investigation and
guarantee justice for the victims of cognizable offences.

Footnote

1. The Supreme Court did carve out 5 exceptions to this
mandate. These are circumstances the place a preliminary inquiry is fascinating
given the character of offence and the tendency of individuals to file
frivolous and non-genuine complaints. For situations, corruption is
one such exception.

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