By Aniket Bhargava and Shruti Dutt from Aureus Law Partners
What is a Complaint and its importance
Complaint means a grievance expressed by a person in the form of certain facts which make out an offence. Any person who has a grievance regarding some fact, condition, incident, state of affairs etc. may file a complaint before an Officer in-charge within the local jurisdiction of whose police station that incident has occurred. It is not necessary to file a complaint in the same area where the crime has been committed. However, it is advised to visit the nearest police station as the complaint has to be filled immediately without any delay. Indian law contemplates that a police complaint can be filed orally as well, but in practice the police complaint is filed in writing. Nowadays, a police complaint can be filed through various modes including email, WhatsApp or other electronic mediums.
It is not necessary that only the aggrieved person files a complaint, any other person may also do so. Many a times it is seen that in rape cases the victim is often not in a condition to file a complaint due to mental or physical harm, stress and fear. In such cases, any person having knowledge of the incident like parents, relatives, friends etc. are allowed to file a complaint. The first stage of a criminal case is the First Information Report (‘FIR’). The procedure for filing an FIR is mentioned under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (‘CrPC’). Therefore, the complaint holds high importance throughout the case proceedings.
Many a times it is seen that a person doesn’t get justice even after setting the criminal law in motion due to not properly mentioning/stating the relevant facts in their complaint. The same could also lead to dismissal of the case by the Courts.
There are various reasons associated with why sometimes even genuine complaints fail in the court of law. One such reason is that most of the time the police officials on duty at the time of registering complaint are not vigilant themselves. Secondly, the public or informant lays more emphasis on and tends to exaggerate the actual event without laying emphasis on surrounding or connecting facts which may lead to weakening the credibility of information.
Making of Report to Officer in-charge
The informant/ complainant should go to the police station having jurisdiction over the area (where the offence is committed) and report to Officer in-charge of concerned police station. In case information is given through telephone, email, WhatsApp or other electronic mediums, the informant / complainant should subsequently go to the police station for registration of FIR. The senior most Police officer available in the Police Station at any point of time i.e. either the Station House Officer (‘SHO’) or his subordinate above the rank of a constable is generally the Officer-in-charge, or the Duty Officer will receive the complaint or lodge FIR. If the SHO / Inspector is not present, a Sub-Inspector or Head Constable will be the officer-in-charge.
Recourse if Police Station refuses to register a complaint
If the Police station refuses to register the FIR , a complaint can be made at two levels. Firstly, as per Section 154 (3) of CrPC complainant can approach Senior Superintendent of Police(SSP) or (‘SSP’) Superintendent of Police (SP) for the said purpose. However, if the complaint is not registered even after that, then the next remedy is to seek help from the Judicial Magistrate. According to Section 156(3) any Magistrate empowered can order an investigation by a police officer.
Police is not to be paid any fee or money for registering the FIR and subsequent investigation. If any officer in the police station makes such a demand, a complaint should immediately be made to the senior police officers.
Important things to be kept in mind while filing a complaint/FIR
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Complaint/FIR must be filed immediately. If there is any delay, mention it in the form.
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If given orally, it must be taken down in writing and explained to you by the Officer in charge at a Police Station within the jurisdiction of which the offence has taken place.
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Be very specific
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There should be four copies recorded simultaneously, with carbon sheets in place.
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Avoid complicated, technical words, terminologies and unnecessary details.
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Try not to overwrite or score out words.
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Ensure that the arrival/departure time is mentioned in the FIR and in the Daily Diary (DD) Register at the Police Station
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It must contain authentic information, including these necessary bits of information:
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What information do you want to convey?
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In what capacity are you providing the information?
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Who is the perpetrator of the crime?
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Who has the crime been committed against – victim /complainant?
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When was it committed (time)?
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Where was it committed (specific place /locality/area)?
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Why do you think it was committed?
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Which way (actual process involved) was it committed?
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Were there any witnesses? (Names will be required here.)
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What were the losses? (Money /valuables/ possessions /physical damage etc.)
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What were the traces at the scene of the crime? (Weapons/evidence if any.)
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After completion, it is a must that the document is carefully read and signed.
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It must be recorded by the officer in the book maintained for this purpose by the State Government.
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You have the right to and must get a copy of it for your records. You are not required to pay for the same.
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You are not required by law to give an affidavit.
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Never file a false complaint or give wrong information to the police. You can be prosecuted under law for giving wrong information or for misleading the police.—[Section 203, Indian Penal Code 1860].
Thus, a complaint or a FIR is the preliminary stage of initiation of case and thus considered as important and should be filed immediately without any delay. The information given to police for initiating case should be precise and accurate so that a clear case can be made out, informant should not exaggerate information or nor give false information and should restrict to only relevant facts.
