Law and You >Procedural Laws > CrPC > Section 154 of CrPC (FIR)
Police are the first agency for the administration of criminal justice and are considered to be the first line of defence against crime. The primary responsibility of Police is to protect life, liberty, and property of citizens. It is for the protection of these rights that the Criminal Justice System has been constituted assigning important responsibility to the Police. They have several duties to perform, the most important among them being the maintenance of Law and order and investigation of offences. The Police Act, 1861, does not define the word “Police” but only says that it shall include all persons who shall be enrolled under this Act. The preamble to the Police Act, 1861 termed police as an “instrument for prevention and detection of crime” including inter alia maintenance of order, peace and tranquillity Sec. 154 to 176 of Chapter XII titled “information to Police and their power of investigation” of Cr. P.C., 1973 deals with an investigation by the police. In this article, we shall study Section 154 of CrPC.
Investigation is one of the important function carried out by the Police. The purpose of investigation is to collect evidence and apprehend the culprit. Sec. 154 to 176 of Chapter XII titled “information to Police and their power of investigation” of Cr. P.C., 1973 deals with investigation by the police. The law commission in its 14 the Report (1958) has suggested that investigating staff should be separated from the law and order staff to enable the investigation officer to devote undivided attention to investigation work. The right of investigation by police under Chapter XII of CrPC cannot be challenged in any court.
In State of West Bengal v. S N Basak, AIR 1963 SC 447 case, the Supreme Court held that the statutory right of the police to carry on investigation under Chapter XII of CrPC before a prosecution is launched cannot be interfered with by the courts either under section 401 or under section 482 of the Code.
In King-Emperor v. Nazir Ahmad, AIR 1945 PC 18 case, the Privy Council observed that the functions of the Judiciary and the police are complementary, not overlapping; the Court’s function begins when a charge is preferred before it, and not until then.
Registering FIR Under Section 154 of CrPC:
Section 154(1) of CrPC deals with the information in the cognizable offence. According to this section “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 the informant and every such information, either given in writing or reduced to writing to prevent the possibility of any differences in the oral and the written versions and as aforesaid shall be signed by the person given it and the substantive 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.”
The word “Information” in this section means something in the nature of a complaint or accusation or at least information of a crime given with the object of putting the police in motion in order to investigate.
In Tohal Singh vs. State of Rajasthan, 1989 Cri LJ 1350 (Raj) case, the Court has opined that: “If the telephonic message has been given to officer in charge of a police station, the person giving the message is an ascertained one or is capable of being ascertained the information has been reduced to writing as required under S.154 of CrPC and it is faithful record of such information and the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and is not cryptic one or in complete in essential details, it would constitute FIR.”
In Goverdhan Lal v. State, 2004 Cr LJ 3966 (3969) (Raj) case, the Court held that mere telephonic message to the police informing about any incident would not be treated FIR, as normally a telephonic message is given to the police so that it may reach the spot immediately.
If unanimous person inform about the offence to police on telephone, in that case FIR cannot be registered because there is no person to sign the information reduced in writing and to whom the police can read out the oral statement reduced to writing.
According to Section 2(c) of the CrPC, cognizable offence means an offence in which, a police officer may, in accordance with the first schedule or under any other law for the time being enforce, arrest without warrant. The use of phrase “commission of a cognizable offence” means the cognizable offence is already done by the accused.
When any information disclosing a cognizable offence is laid before the officer in charge of a police station, the officer in charge has no option but to register the case on the basis thereof. If the information is oral he has to reduce it in writing or get reduced into writing under his direction. The oral information reduced to writing must be read over to the informant. Written information about the offence or the oral information reduced to writing must be signed by the informant and a corresponding entry of the substance of the information be made in a book known as the Station Diary or General Diary. Under Section 154(2) lays down that, a copy of information as recorder under Section 154(1) shall be given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant.
In Mohinder Singh v. State of Punjab, 2007(1) RCR (Criminal) 536(P&H) case, the Court held that the genuineness or credibility of the information is not a condition precedent for registration of the case.
In Prakash Singh Badal v. State of Punjab, 2007(1) RCR (Criminal) 3(SC) case, the Court held that the information lodged with Police disclosing cognizable offence, the officer-in-charge of a Police station is statutorily obliged to register a case.
Refusal to Lodge FIR Under Section 154 of CrPC:
Person seeking to register FIR should know that the FIR can only registered for cognizable offences only and not for non-cognizable offences. Hence he should be sure that the offence is of cognizable nature (Refer Schedule I of CrPC). The police must register FIR in case of cognizable offence after receiving the information about it from the informant.
In Prakash Singh Badal v. State of Punjab, 2007(1) RCR (Criminal) 3(SC) case, the Court held that the information lodged with Police disclosing cognizable offence, the officer-in-charge of a Police station is statutorily obliged to register a case.
In Haryana vs. Bhajan Lal, AIR 1992 SC 604 case, the Court held that genuineness, reliability, and credibility of the information is no ground to refuse to register the information.
Sometimes, the police may refuse to lodge a first information report in case of cognizable offence. This can be both legal and illegal. In cases or is not in their legal capacity to take cognizance or the offence is of non-cognizable nature, it will be held legal. But where police refuses to file the complaint for blatant reasons, without any substantial legal ground, it is contrary to law. When a police officer refuses to register the FIR on the ground that it discloses a non-cognizable offence, he must inform the informant and direct him to file a complaint to the magistrate. In case the offence committed is beyond the territorial jurisdiction of a police station, information should be recorded and forwarded to the appropriate police-station having jurisdiction, otherwise refusing to record on this ground will amount to a dereliction of duty.
In State of A.P. vs. Punati Ravulu, AIR 1993 SC 2644 case, the Court held that refusal to record information is a dereliction of duty by a public officer.
Under Section 154(3), in the event that the Officer in Charge of the police station refuses to receive or record information of such cognizable offence, then the informant can inform such refusal to the Superintendent of Police concerned in writing and by post. If the Superintendent of Police is satisfied that the information discloses a cognizable offence and report should be registered, then he should act in terms of Chapter XII of CrPC. He can do the investigation by registering FIR himself or ask his subordinate police officer to do so. Such police officer appointed has all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in relation to that offence.
If the complainant failed to get register FIR with the Superintendent of Police, the complainant is legally entitled to file a complaint to the Judicial Magistrate/ Metropolitan Magistrate u/s 156(3) read with Sec. 190 of the criminal procedure thereby praying FIR to be registered by the police and investigation into the matter.
If the complainant fails to get register FIR through the Judicial Magistrate/ Metropolitan Magistrate, then he can file a Writ Petition in the respective High Court for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus against the defaulting Police officers, inter alia, to Register the FIR and directing him to show cause (a) Why he has not registered the FIR;
(b) Why disciplinary proceedings for Misconduct should not be initiated against him for dereliction of duty;
(c) Why he should not be suspended from Police service for interfering in the administration of justice and shielding the accused person.
FIR in case of Acid Attack, Rape, Harassment Under Section 154 of CrPC:
There is a proviso attached to Section 154(1). This proviso is applicable to the woman against whom an offence under section 326A, section 326B, section 354, section 354A, section 354B, section 354C, section 354D, section 376, section 376A, section1 376AB, section 376B, section 376C, section 376D, section 376DA, section 376DB, section 376E or section 509 of the Indian Penal Code is alleged to have been committed or attempted, then such information shall be recorded, by a woman police officer or any woman officer.
| Section 326 A | Voluntary causing grievous hurt by use of acid. |
| Section 326 B | Voluntary throwing or attempting to throw acid. |
| Section 354 | Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty. |
| Section 354 A | Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment. |
| Section 354 B | Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe. |
| Section 354 C | Voyeurism. |
| Section 354 D | Stalking. |
| Section 376 | Rape. |
| Section 376 A | Causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim. |
| Section 376 AB | Rape on woman under twelve years age |
| Section 376 B | Sexual intercourse by husband upon his wife during separation. |
| Section 376 C | Sexual intercourse by a person in authority. |
| Section 376 D | Gang rape. |
| Section 376 DA | Gang rape on woman under sixteen years of age. |
| Section 376 DB | Gang rape on woman under twelve years of age. |
| Section 376 E | Repeat offenders of above offences. |
| Section 509 | Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. |
Thus in such offences and for the woman victim, the information shall be recorded, by a woman police officer or any woman officer. The recording of such information shall be video graphed and 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.
Conclusion:
Sec. 154 to 176 of Chapter XII titled “information to Police and their power of investigation” of Cr. P.C., 1973 deals with an investigation by the police. The Section 154 of CrPC lays down the first step of the Criminal Procedure that leads to the trial and punishment of a criminal. It is also the most important supportive evidence on which the entire structure of the prosecution case is built-up.