All You Need to Know About E-FIR in India

Crime can take place anywhere with anyone, either it is a workplace or within the confined room of your home. But most of us find it a burden to lodge an E- FIR in India because sometimes it goes unreported by the police officials.

Internet savvy world rolled the FIR to E-Fir in India

Most people think of complaint the same as an FIR. But complaining is generally made by a person against whom the crime or misdeed has been committed. But in the case of FIR, the FIR can be filed by a person who is either the victim or witnesses the case or has the knowledge of the accused.

Before filing an FIR in India makes people think twice as it is a very dreadful task and find it a very tedious process as the police are very non-cooperative and most of the cases go unreported at the same time. The procedure for filing an FIR is mentioned under section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. But now the person needs not to visit the court physically. Instead one can file E-FIR in India by sitting at their home.

Types of Offences

Offenses are categorized into two different types.

Cognizable offenses include murder, rape, dowry, death, kidnap, etc.  In these cases, the police can directly arrest the suspect without any arrest warrant from the court.

Non-cognizable offense includes assault, cheating on another, stalking, etc. Here only a complain can be filed online. It can be later be extended to the police after seeking permission from the Magistrate.

Our country has an abysmal record when it comes to reporting of criminal activity. Various crimes against women like assaultation, stalking, harassments faced at the workplace, domestic violence, dowry remains unreported at the police station stating these as personal cases.

Filing an E-FIR in India

In case of a Cognizable offense, one should first approach the police. The police will hear the aggrieved and direct him/her to the District Magistrate for further action, and the police will file an FIR against the case. FIR is the first information report, and it is the primary thing that sets the criminal justice system in the process. The complainant reports the case in an oral manner, and the police officer notes it down in the FIR form. There is no charge for filing an FIR.

To file an online complaint

• Visit the official website of your state.
• For, eg. In case of any crime in the Delhi region. (www.delhipolice.nic.in)
• From the Homepage, select the service option, then select the popular category and register the complaint.
• A new page will be displayed where one needs to fill the details in the registration form.
• The details must be checked twice before submitting them.
• In the end, a copy of the FIR will be mailed.

Steps after filing an FIR

The police, after filing the FIR, conduct an investigation on the case, which may include arrest or fine. The police will further probe into the matter and collect shreds of evidence. If there is enough proof on the charge sheet, the case will go to the court.

If the police conclude that there is not enough evidence or proof for the crime that has been committed, then the police will close the case and will accelerate it to the court. Before this, the police will have to inform the person who has filed the FIR that the case is getting closed due to lack of evidence.

What if the FIR is not lodged?

• In case if the FIR is not registered one can
• Approach the Superintendent of the police and other higher officers like Deputy Inspector General of Police
• Can send a complaint in writing and by post to the Superintendent of the police concerned. If the Superintendent of the police is satisfied with the complaint, he will either investigate himself or hand it over to the other officials.
• File a private complaint before the court.
• Make a complaint to the State Human Rights Commission or the National Human Rights Commission if the police do nothing to enforce the law.
• File the Writ petition in the respective High Court against the police officer. The police officer will have to show the causes of why he has not registered the FIR.

Zero FIR – A free Jurisdiction FIR

A Zero FIR is used for cognizable offenses such as murder, rape, etc. where the investigation requires immediate action. Zero FIR is the FIR which is filed in any police station irrespective of the place of incidence or jurisdictional area. It is very helpful for the people filing the complaint as it makes it easy to file the complaint and not making rounds of different police stations.

Filing a Criminal Complaint

In case of filing a complaint, the person filing the complaint is called “plaintiff” and the person against whom the case is filed called “defendant.” The plaint as per the Limitation Act,1963 should file the complaint within 90 days in High Court and within 30 days from the date of crime.

If there is a delay in filing the complaint due to unreasonable circumstances, then that complaint will not be entertained by the court.

Now, the complainant will hire an advocate to fight the case on his behalf. In technical terms, it is known as “Vakalatnama,” which is a document that gives the advocate the authorization to fight the case and handle all the court procedures.

A great initiative by Rajnath Singh

Current Defence Minister of India Sri Rajnath Singh in January put forward his views on how the passengers can file a complaint while traveling. In a report, he said that there is no facility for a passenger to register an E-FIR in India. He also assured that all possible support from the Ministry Of Home Affairs would be provided. He asked the Railway Ministry officials to discuss whether the online filing of FIRs with Railway passengers can be integrated with the CCTNS( Crime and Criminal Tracking Network system), that allow passengers to lodge the FIR electronically.

There are some states in which the online submission of FIR is permissible. These states include Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, New Delhi, MP, Haryana, Patna, Odisha, Bengaluru and Karnataka.

Conclusion

Since the population of our country is increasing at a very fast pace, every Non-cognizable offence is very difficult to be covered by the police officials. But it is the right of an individual to file the FIR or lodge a complaint against so and so matter and at the same time must be aware of the steps to be taken if the authorized officials refuse to file the FIR. In such a busy schedule of an individual E-FIR in India proves to be a bonus for one and all.

Also Read : 10 Things About First Information Report Under CrPC