FIR(First Information Report)

Who may lodge?

• Any person
• needs not to be victim/eye witness or the
injured person
• A FIR may be lodged by any person for, it is
meant just to set the machinery of law in action
[ 42DLR (AD) 31]
• Every G.R(General Register) case starts with the
lodging of FIR to the nearest police station.
• FIR is the first recorded version of an occurrence
but it may not contain all the detailed facts of an
occurrence.
•  FIR may be filed in a police station in writing.
• When an information is given verbally to a police
officer of a Police Station, the same is to be
reduced to writing.
• Law :
• S.154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1898
• Regulation No. 243 of the PRB
 S.154 Information in cognizable cases
• “Every information relating to the commission of a
cognizable offence if given to an officer in charge
of a police station, shall be reduced to writing
……….., 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 into a book to
be kept by such officer in such form as the
Government may prescribe in this behalf”.
 Regulation 243 of PRB:
243(a). The first information of cognizable crime
mentioned in section 154, Code of Criminal
Procedure, shall be drawn up by the officer-in-
charge of the police - station in B.P. Form No. 27 in
accordance with the instructions printed with it.”

• (b)................................
• (c) The information of the commission of a
cognizable crime that shall first reach the
police, whether oral or written, shall be treated
as the first information. It may be given by a
person acquainted with the facts directly or on
hearsay, but in either case it constitutes the
first information required by law, upon which
the enquiry under section 157, Code of Criminal
Procedure, shall be taken up."
• There is no expression like “first information” in
section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This
section starts with the word "Every”.
• However,the expression “first information” has
been used in regulation 243 of the Police
Regulations of Bengal, 1943.
• in section 154, the words ‘every information’ have
been used twice and it is provided that substance
of every such information shall at first be reduced
to writing and then be entered into the book in
such form as prescribed by the Government.
• S.154 does not prohibit recording or entering an
information into the book which is not the first one
in point of time but received at a later time.
• P.R.B is subservient to the provisions of Cr.P.C.
Moreover, when the Code has not defined or
explained what is FIR but only laid down the
procedure of recording an information about a
cognizable offence, the Regulations of PRB
cannot determine what is FIR.
• the Regulation 243, can not prevail over section
154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
 Essentials of FIR:
• The information should be first in point of time
• It should be definite not merely a rumor
• It must be given to the officer in charge of the police
station
• It must relate to the commission of a cognizable offence
• It should be such that the police can start investigation
• It should be read over to the person who made it and
should be signed by him.
• It should be in writing, if oral, reduced to be in writing
• The information should be registered in a book
maintained by the police for this purpose. B.P Form No.
27.
 Legal aspects of FIR:
• Any person can lodge FIR. He needs not to be
victim/eye witness or the injured person.
• Promptness in filing FIR speaks that there is the
least possibility of concoction and the report is the
strong piece of corroborative evidence.
• Preliminary inquiry /investigation before recording
FIR is not necessary.
• An FIR need not contain the fact of the case in
details. It is sufficient, if it sets out all important
facts.
• The absence of name of the accused from the
FIR is, however, not by itself the proof of
neither the innocence of the accused nor
presence of the name of an accused in FIR is the
positive proof of guilt of the accused.
• The mere fact that that the name of the witness
is not named in FIR is no ground for holding that
the witness has not seen the occurance.
• The absence of signature of the FIR by the
informant, however, is not necessary to the
extent that it will vitiate such report.
• FIR is one of the important documents which form
part of the case record. The documents are sent to
the court under section 173(3A)(a)(b) along with
the police report on which the prosecution
proposes to rely.
• Though FIR is not substantive evidence it is the
basis on which the prosecution case stands.
• Information given to the police verbally or in the
form of G.D. entry, if first in point to time, shall be
the FIR, and all other subsequent information or
FIR shall be considered as statement under section
161 of the Code and shall not be admissible in
evidence in view of the provisions of section 162
of the Code.
• Which one of the several information's about the
same occurrence is to be regarded as FIR.[38DLR
289]
• It is a question of fact and is dependent upon the
facts and circumstances of each case.
• If earlier information's are vague or indefinite
then the subsequent information may be
considered as FIR.
• Any vague or indefinite or incomplete information,
even if it relates to a cognizable offence, cannot be
an information to be treated as FIR [ 11 BLT (AD)
53& regulation 243(d) of P.R.B ]
• FIR is not substantive evidence, it can be used
for the purpose of corroborating, or
contradicting the maker.
• FIR cannot be used to contradict the evidence
of any witness other than the informant.[The
State Vs. Tajul Islam 48 DLR 395 ]
• Evidentiary Value :
• - An FIR is not a substantive evidence in a case
but it may be used either u/s.145 to contradict
the testimony given by the informant in court,
or u/s.157 to corroborate the testimony. The
allegation in the FIR cannot be used to
corroborate or contradict the evidence of the
witness other than the informant.[Rashed Kabir
Vs. State [22BLC (HCD)345 ]
• The first information report is never
considered as a substantive piece of evidence.
It can only be used to corroborate or contradict
the informant’s evidence in the court. Evidence
adduce in the court by a witness at the time of
trial is the substantive and legal evidence .
[ Ibrahim Dewan Vs.State 21BLC (2016)
(HCD)813]
• An FIR is not a substantive piece of evidence .It
is used as a means for contradicting or
corroborating the statement of the informant
[8BLD(AD) 109]
• A General Diary is maintained in every police
station in accordance with the provisions of
section 44 of the Police Act, 1861.
It is maintained in B.P. Form No. 65 of P.R.B. Such a
diary contains:
i) all complaints and charges preferred;
ii) name/names of the complainant;
iii) names of the persons arrested;
iv) the offence charged against them;
v) the weapons and the properties taken into
possession by the police;
vi) names of the witnesses examined.