New Delhi: The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it is mandatory for the police to immediately register FIRs in all cases of cognisable offences and that no preliminary enquiry by a police official is permissible as a condition to register the First Information Report.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, said action will be taken against an officer at a police station if he fails to register an FIR.
The Chief Justice noted:?“The number of FIRs not registered is approximately equivalent to the number of FIRs actually registered.”
“Not registering FIRs is a clear violation of the rights of the victims of such a large number of crimes,” the bench said.
FIR must in cognisable crime, says SC
The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it is mandatory for the police to immediately register FIRs in all cases of cognisable offences and that no preliminary enquiry by a police official is permissible as a condition to register the First Information Report.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said action will be taken against an officer at a police station if he fails to register an FIR. The bench also cautioned that arrests cannot be made till all the facts are verified and there is some evidence against the accused.
“Registration of FIR is mandatory and no preliminary enquiry is permissible in cognisable offences. Police officials can’t avoid registration of FIRs and action must be taken against them for not lodging FIRs in cognisable offences,” said the bench, that also comprised Justices B.S. Chauhan, Ranjana P. Desai, Ranjan Gogoi and S.A. Bobde.
It said a preliminary enquiry can be conducted before registering FIRs for cases involving matrimonial or property disputes or graft charges to find out if the offence is cognisable or not, and such probe must be completed within seven days and that the police has to declare if the case is closed or if an FIR will follow.
The Constitution Bench gave this verdict after a three-judge bench had referred the case to the larger bench as there were conflicting rulings on the issue. The judgment is based on a case filed by the father of a six-year-old child who was kidnapped in UP in 2008. Police officials had allegedly asked for a bribe to register the case.
