Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ON
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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INTRODUCTION
It must be presented to him with a view to his taking action under the
Criminal Procedure Code. A complaint need not necessarily be made by the
person aggrieved but may be made by any person aware of the offence1.
Its essentials:
1
Dr. Paranjape, N.V., Code of Criminal Procedure, Central Law Publishers, Allahabad.
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offender or even the section of the law which makes the act or omission
punishable.
4. The allegation must be made orally or in writing. It need not set out all
the facts on which the accused is to be charged, but must contain a
statement of true facts relied on as constituting the offence in ordinary
and concise language admitting of no ambiguity.
A detailed procedure for filing criminal complaints has been laid down
in India, as per the Criminal Procedure Code. The following steps will clear
any doubts you may have over filing a criminal complaint in India:
1. Filing an FIR
In case you are the victim of a cognizable offence, the first step you
would take is to approach the police. The police, on receiving information,
prepares a written document, known as a First Information Report (FIR). The
duty of the police lies in hearing the aggrieved and directing him to the District
Magistrate for further action. An FIR can be filed by you if you are the person
against whom the crime has been committed or know about an offence that has
been committed. There are no charges for filing an FIR, it being a crucial
document that sets the criminal justice system in process.3
2
Ibid.
3
Kelkaer, R.V., Criminal Procedure Code, EBC, Lucknow, 2007 (Revised by K.N.C. Pillai)
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1. You can meet the Superintendent of Police or other higher officers like
Deputy Inspector General of Police & Inspector General of Police and
bring your complaint to their notice.
3. You can file a private complaint before the court having jurisdiction.
4. You can also make a complaint to the State Human Rights Commission
or the National Human Rights Commission if the police does nothing to
enforce the law or does it in a biased and corrupt manner4.
The police conducts investigation, which may include arrests. Once the
investigation has been concluded the police will record all their findings in a
Challanï or charge sheet. If it is deemed that there is enough proof on the
charge sheet the case goes to court.On the flipside, after their investigations if
the police conclude that there is not enough evidence or proof that a crime has
been committed they can close the case after justifying their reasons in court. If
the police decide to close the case, they are bound to inform the person who
filed the FIR of their decision.
A zero FIR is used for crimes such as murder,rape etc. where immediate
investigation is required and time cannot be wasted in reaching the police
station under whose jurisdiction the crime falls. The main idea of a Zero FIR is
to initiate the investigation or urge the police to take their initial action. Once
you have lodged a Zero FIR, make sure that your complaint is not transferred to
the appropriate police station in your jurisdiction without any initial action or
investigation.A zero FIR is necessary for crimes where immediate action is
required,eg in case of murder,rape etc, or when the police station under whose
4
Ibid.
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jurisdiction the crime was committed is not easily accessible, eg in case of
crimes while travelling.
If you are filing a plaint, you are the ‘plaintiff’ and the person whom you
are filing against, is the ‘defendant’. There are certain regulations set by the
‘Limitation Act,1963’ for filing of plaints.
For instance, there is a time limit within which the plant should be filed, and it
differs for different courts.
The Plaint, as per the Act, should be filed within 90 days in High court
and within 30 days from the date of the crime that is being appealed against5.
5
Mishra, S.N., Criminal Procedure Code , CLP, Allahabad, 20054
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As the plaint procedure is simple, and if you have enough proof in hand,
you can file them with the help of an expert in no time.6
It contains the terms and conditions of this authorization, and lists out
the rights of the advocate. The terms and conditions, mentioned in the
Vakalatnama include7:
1. The advocate will not be held responsible for any decisions taken by
him/her during the course of an investigation, in the best interests of the
clients.
2. The advocate will be paid the requisite fees as well as the fees for the
court proceedings.
The vakalatnama is affixed with the plaint and submitted to the court by the
advocate authorized to represent the case.
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Ibid.
7
Ratan Lal, R., & Dhirajlal, K.T., Criminal Procedure Code, Universal, Delhi, 1999
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Although no fees are paid for submission, some courts demand a stamp
‘Advocate Welfare Stamp’ to be pasted on it8.
The plaints are required to pay the court fees, as per the rules and
regulations set by the Court fees Stamp Act.
The advocate authorized to carry on with the dealings of the case will be
able to instruct about the procedures and also the court fees to be paid.
(b) if the Magistrate makes over the case for inquiry or trial to another
Magistrate undersection 192: Provided further that if the Magistrate
makes over the case to another Magistrateunder section 192 after
8
Ibid.
9
Dr. Paranjape, N.V., Code of Criminal Procedure, Central Law Publishers, Allahabad.
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examining the complainant and the witnesses, the latter Magistrateneed
not re-examine them
Having done so, he may order an inquiry under Section 202 or dismiss
the complaint under Section 203 if he finds that there are no sufficient grounds
to proceed with the case. In a significant decision handed down by the High
Court of Kerala in Pramod v.C.K. Velayudhan12, it has been held that Criminal
Court will not get any jurisdiction to proceed against a person at the mere sight
o the details on the docket sheet or the cause-title. No Court shall act upon the
sole tag, label or the badge veiled on the cause-title norshall it be carried away
by the prints and dots on the veil of cause-title. In other words, theCourt is
bound to unveil the complaint, feel the texture of its contents and test the
criminality because criminality lies not on how a person is Christianed at
the cause-title, but how he hasacted, as per the contents of the complaint.
10
Badilal Panchal Vs Dattatreya, AIR 1960 SC 1113
11
Gurdial Singh Vs Abhey Dass, AIR 1967 Punj 244
12
2005 CriLJ 4572
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1994 CriLJ 3765
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vitiate the proceedings under this section. Where the accused person himself
voluntarily appears before the Magistrate to answer a charge, his examination
on oath becomes immaterial. The High Court of Karnatakain V.S. Joshi v. N.G.
Bhat Chitrigi14 held that order issuing process could not be set aside merely
on hypothetical ground where the Magistrate after taking notice of accusations
made in complaint, had proceeded to record sworn statements of the
complainant and witnesses. This clearly showed that he had taken cognizance
of the offence.
14
2006 CriLJ 1566
15
AIR 1962 Mad 443
16
2003 Cri. LJ 687
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basis of its peculiar facts and circumstances to find out whether on facts of the
case a criminal offence was made out or not. In criminal trial one of the
cardinal principle for the Court is to look for plausible explanation for the delay
in loading the complaint report.
Delay in filing complaint affords opportunity to the complainant to
make fabrication. Therefore, if there has been delay in either filing F.I.R.
before the Police or complaint before the Court, the Courts always view
allegations with suspicion and insist for satisfactory explanation for delay in
filing F.I.R./complaint. Mere statement by the complainant that police did
not take action is not a satisfactory explanation for justifying delay in filing
of the complaint before the Magistrate.
17
1994 Cri. LJ 444 (Mah)
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
12
bectorkartik@gmail.com
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