DHARMASHASTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

CRIMINAL LAW – II

ANALYSIS OF FIR: Collection of FIR from a police station and its

analysis in the given format

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mr. Gautam Gupta Lav Vyas

(Assistant Professor of Law) Bal/052/2018

Mr. Ashutosh Singh

(Assistant Professor of Law)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to our Vice Chancellor Mr. Balraj
Singh Chauhan, our HOD Mr. VS Gigimon as well as our subject teacher Mr. Gautam Gupta
and Mr. Ashutosh Singh who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on
the topic Collection of FIR from a police station and its analysis in the given format which
helped me in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things. I am
really thankful to them.

Secondly I would also like to thank my colleagues and partners in this project who helped in
finalizing this project within this frame.

Date: 22/01/2020 -Lav Vyas Signature

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 INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................. 1

INDEX ......................................................................................................................................... 2

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3

I. Research Objective ......................................................................................................... 4

II. Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 4

III. Project Outline............................................................................................................. 4

ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENT .................................................................................................... 5

IV. Further Proceedings..................................................................................................... 7

ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................. 9

V. Whether a second FIR can be lodged for the same offence ............................................ 9

VI. If two different people files same FIR at two different stations then which one will
be Admissible? ....................................................................................................................... 9

VII. Whether every detail needs to be filled out as given in the FIR format? .................. 10

VIII. Whether any confession made by the accused filing an FIR is admissible in the
Court? 10

CONCLUSION AND ANALYSIS .................................................................................................... 11

ANNEXURE................................................................................................................................ 12

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 INTRODUCTION

A First Information Report is a document prepared by police officer. FIR can only be lodged
in the case of cognizable offence. In a matter of non-cognizable offence report is filed after
which the police take the permission of the magistrate to issue a warrant. FIR as under
Section 154 (1) reads: 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 a book to be kept by such officer in such form as
the State Government may prescribe1. FIR can be filed by a victim against whom the offence
has been committed or any person who has seen or knows about commission of a cognizable
offence or any police officer who comes to know about the commission of such an offence. If
we go to a police station which does not have jurisdiction for the offence then it registers a
Zero FIR. This is to protect people’s right; the victim can file his complaint in any police
station for any offence for a quick action and later the case can be transferred to the
concerned police station thereafter. If a police officer refuses to lodge you FIR then you can
either file it online or go to a senior officer or can complaint to a Metropolitan Magistrate
under Sec 156 (3) ‘Any Magistrate empowered under section 190 may order such an investigation
as above-mentioned’2. Therefore no police officer can refuse to lodge a FIR unless the

information provided is very vague. FIR is a very important document as it contains the First
information about the crime; also it helps the police in conducting further investigation and
preparing a report which is then given to the court and a good investigation helps a lot to the
court in conducting a trial and delivering a judgment. Therefore it holds an important value in
the path of criminal justice.

1
Section 154 (1), The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

2
Section 156 (3), The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

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 I. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the project was to get familiar with the document. As we are studying
procedural law this semester. Filing an FIR is the first step for the criminal proceedings paths.
The objective was to get complete knowledge about the document, how to file an FIR, what
later actions are taken after an FIR is filed. To know what is the importance of this document
and is the police takes the further action after filing an FIR.

II. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The Research question which I have framed for my project is

1. Whether a second FIR can be lodged for the same offence.

2. If two different people files same FIR at two different stations then which one will be
admissible.

3. Whether every detail needs to be filled out as given in the FIR format.

4. Whether any confession made by the accused filing an FIR is admissible in the Court.

III. PROJECT OUTLINE

The research article has tried to incorporate every detail about an FIR.

Starting with an Introduction, how the police and an FIR is a part of criminal justice
administration system and the legal provision giving sanction to an FIR. The basic elements
of an FIR are also discussed.

The objectives of the research article are clearly mentioned. Following which are the research
questions which forms the basis of this research. After this there is a brief analysis of the
document which was collected in the police station. An analysis of the research question is a
section which answers the entire question with the help of case laws. At last there is
conclusion and suggestion along with the annexure.

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 ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENT

To analyse the document we must divide the documents in different heads as given under the
document.
 FIRST INFORMATION REPORT: As the name itself suggest it means an information
recorded by a police officer on duty given by any aggrieved person o any person who
knows about the commission of the crime or a person who was present at the site of
commission. Generally the victim is the one who gives the information but if not
possible than any other person knowing about the commission of the offence can give
the information. The FIR is admitted under Section 154 of CRPC. FIR is filed only
when it is a cognizable offence. In the present case it is a cognizable offence.

 CONTENTS

1. DISTRICT: Ahmedabad
POLICE STATION: Bapunagar
FIR NO.: 013
YEAR: 2019

For filing of an FIR the person has to report to the police which has jurisdiction in the area of
the commission. If a person goes to a police station outside the jurisdiction then he can file a
Zero FIR. Here the police station takes the information for further investigation and then later
transfer it to the respective police station whose jurisdiction is over that area. Where the
constable at the police station refused to record the complaint on the ground of lack of
territorial jurisdiction over the place of crime, it was held that it was certainly a dereliction of
duty on the part of the constable because any lack of territorial jurisdiction could not have
prevented him from recording information about commission of a cognizable offence and
forwarding the same to the police station having jurisdiction over the area3

3
State of AP v Punati Ramulu, AIR (1993) SC 2644.

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 2.
Sr. No. Acts Section

1 IPC, 1860 323

2 IPC, 1860 324

3 IPC, 1860 284

The offence committed by the accused is under Section 323, Indian Penal Code, 1860 which
is for punishment voluntarily causing hurt and Section 324 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 is for
voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means. Section 284 of Indian Penal Code,
1860 is for negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance.

 The occurrence of the offence was in the shop located in Bapunagar market which
was around 1 kilometer away from the police station. The date of occurrence of the
offence was on 23/02/2018 and the time given in the FIR is 16:45 pm. A person
should file the FIR as soon as possible and if not able to do the same then should
give a reasonable explanation for the same.
 The Type of information can be given in the form of oral or written as per section
154. In the current case the type of information is given in written form. If the given
orally then the police inspector writes down the information and later reads it out to
him to confirm the information given by him.
 The FIR contains the details of the complainant. A complainant can be the aggrieved
party himself or any person as an eye witness of the incident or a person who has the
hearsay of the offence. If the person is given the information on the basis of the
hearsay then he needs to sign to it and mention the source of his information. Where
an information related to a cognizable offence was given to police station in which
highly posted officials were involved, in such circumstances that information must
be lodged as an FIR and the signature of the said informant must be taken on the

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 information which needed to be written by himself4. The document provided
contains the same. It contains the name of the complainant, his age, his parents name
etc. Here the complainant is the aggrieved party itself. Even though it is given by the
aggrieved party it is to be signed.
 As this case is related to physical violence so here there is no mention about the
value of the property.

3. FIRST INFORMATION CONTENT

Here the aggrieved party i.e. Mohammad Salim Khan who is a trader of clothes
having a shop in Narol, Ahmedabad. On 23/02/2018 around 4 in the evening he and
one of his friends went to a wholesaler trader to purchase supplies for their business.
The trader named Aslam Bhai quoted a price of rupees 50 per meter while
Mohammad argued for a price of rupees 40 per meter. After a series of bargaining no
conclusion was brought up and Mohammad and his friend started walking away from
the shop. As he did so Aslam started shouting that if you don’t want to purchase
anything then why do you come to waste my time and money, it requires a lot of
labour in showing the product and packing it back; later he started using cursed words
in reply to which Mohammad to started using foul language. The argument got heated
up and Aslam picked up a rod and struck it on the head of Mohammad which resulted
into a lot of blood loss of Mohammad from his head.

4. ACTION TAKEN
The case has been registered and took up for investigation by J.S. Choudhary (Sub –
Inspector).

IV. FURTHER PROCEEDINGS

Further proceedings in the case would be the police would conduct investigation and would
visit the site of commission and it being a cognizable offence he police would arrest the shop
owner. The police would conduct their proper investigation on the basis of the information

4
A Nallasivan v. State of TN, 1995 Cr LJ 2754 Mad.

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provided by Mohammed Salim in the FIR. Once the police conclude their investigation, it
would write all their findings in a Challan/Charge Sheet5.

A Charge sheet is a formal police recording which includes the name of the person brought
into custody, the nature of the accusations, and the identity of the accused. Charge Sheet is
distinct from FIR as it is made after the end of police investigation. Charge Sheet may
include one or more FIR and few of all the charges as mentioned in the FIR.

After a Charge Sheet is prepared it is submitted in the court of law. If the court feels that
there is enough evidence on the charge sheet, the court takes cognizance of the case. If the
court is not satisfied then it can order the police to conduct a proper investigation. After the
court takes the case into cognizance inquiry starts. After this an issue of process is made by
the court and then the trials start against the accused. After the trials the court passes the
judgment whether the person is acquitted or found guilty of the offence. If either of the party
is not satisfied with the decision of the lower court then it can appeal in the High Court.
When both the parties are satisfied with the decision of the court then comes the execution
part where the decision of the court is executed.

5
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Section 173

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 ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

V. WHETHER A SECOND FIR CAN BE LODGED FOR THE SAME OFFENCE

To find the answers to my research question I asked few questions to the police officer. I
asked whether a second FIR can be lodged for the same offence. The police officer said that
it is not possible. Only one FIR can be lodged for the same incident the second FIR cannot be
filed. Upon doing further research I found that Registration of the information as the second
FIR in regard to the same incident is not permissible under the law6. First Informant Report is
a report which gives first information with regard to any offence. There cannot be a second
FIR with regard to the same offence because whenever any further information is received by
the investigating agency, it is always in furtherance of the FIR 7. The filing of second FIR for
the same incident just to collect further evidence is illegal. There can be no second FIR and
no fresh investigation or receipt of every subsequent information in respect of the same
cognizable offence or same occurrence giving rise to one or more cognizable offence8.

VI. IF TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE FILES SAME FIR AT TWO DIFFERENT STATIONS THEN

WHICH ONE WILL BE ADMISSIBLE?

I also asked the officer over there that in a case where at different time and different person
report an FIR for the same event then which one is taken into account. The officer did not
know how to respond to the same and let go the question by saying that they have faced such
a situation before and even if they face so then they would not take into the account the later
FIR and would consider only the first one. On doing further research I came to know that
where there is more than one FIR, the first in point of time which persuaded the police officer
to start investigation is the FIR within section 154, and all others are hit by section 161 9. The
first information report is the earliest officer report made to the police10. Where information

6
Bubana Nayak v. State of Orissa, 2005 Cr LJ 2524.

7
Chirra Shivraj v. State of AP, AIR (2011) SC 604.

8
TT Antony v. State of Kerala, 2001 Cr LJ 3329.

9
Vijay Shankar v State of MP, 1989 MPLJ 276

10
Somabhai v State of Gujarat, AIR 1975 SC 1453

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is given to the police at two different places by two different persons, and one is earlier in
point of time, the later report is independent first information and cannot be excluded as
being hit by section 16211.

VII. WHETHER EVERY DETAIL NEEDS TO BE FILLED OUT AS GIVEN IN THE FIR FORMAT?

I asked the officer whether it is necessary to fill out every detail as given in the FIR format.
The officer said that it is not necessary to fill out every detail in the FIR as the informant
sometimes might not know about the complete information and given false information just
to fill the format of the FIR would create a problem therefore it is not necessary to fill every
detail in the FIR. On my further I also find that in many cases even the court has said that
every detail of the FIR needs not to be filled. FIR is not the encyclopedia in which all details
should be given12. It is neither customary nor necessary to mention every minute detail in
FIR13

VIII. WHETHER ANY CONFESSION MADE BY THE ACCUSED FILING AN FIR IS ADMISSIBLE
IN THE COURT?

I asked whether confession given to police by the accused while doing their investigation is
admissible in the court and whether it needed to be mentioned in their report. The officer said
that confession made to the police is not admissible in the court of law. On doing further
research I found that the courts expect that the confessional part to be excluded 14. The Privy
Council observed that it is important to compare the story told by the accused at the trial with
what he said in his report to the police as FIR. The report is clearly admissible; it is in a sense
a confession and as such it is evidence against him15.

11
Magan Lal v Emperor, AIR 1946 Nag 173

12
Ashok Kumar v State, 2008 Cr LJ (NOC) 882 (Uttra).

13
Podda Narayana v State of AP, AIR 1975 SC 1252.

14
Mohammada v Emperor, AIR 1948 Lah 19

15
Dal Singh, AIR 1917 PC 25

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 CONCLUSION AND ANALYSIS

After visiting police station and doing extensive research on the same my conclusion is that

police officer themselves do not have the perfect knowledge about FIR and try to misuse their

power. We have seen that many a times police officer reject taking information stating that

the place of commission is out of their jurisdiction but according to law they have to lodge a

Zero FIR which can later be transferred to the respective police station. Police officers are not

expected to know about court judgements or case laws but they should at least know the on

goings related to their work. As an example we can see that how the police officer which I

met had no idea that telephonic or telephone messages can be taken as an FIR. From this I

could also find the answer to my research question. Further I would like to conclude that not

much action is taken when an FIR is lodged. On my visit to the police station I saw an

informant giving information for the FIR but no further action was being taken by the police

officer while the court says that when an information is received by an officer-in-charge of

Police Station, he is expected to reach the place of occurrence as early as possible. It is not

necessary for him to take that step only on the basis of a first information report. Duty of the

State to protect the life of an injured as also an endeavor on the part of the responsible Police

Officer to reach the place of occurrence is his implicit duty and responsibility16. Just writing

an FIR does not fulfill the duty of the police officer but it is the first step towards completing

his duty. A police officer is expected to do a good investigation and provide a report to the

court which would help in delivering of justice but if the first step towards the path of justice

itself is not fulfilled then we cannot expect the that path to be completed. On the basis of my

research and findings I would suggest that police should try to take the earliest possible

action after writing an FIR mere writing of an FIR does not fulfill their duty but working

upon the same does and would also help the courts if they provide with a good investigation

report.

16
Animireddy Venkata Ramana v Public Prosecutor, AIR 2008 SC 1603

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ANNEXURE

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