First Information Report (FIR) has not been defined in the CrPC. Section 207 clause
(ii) indicates that FIR is registered under Section 154 of the Code. FIR means first
time reporting of information to the police regarding commission of cognizable
offence. A criminal law comes into motion through FIR. Police can arrest and
investigate without warrant or order of a Court in cognizable cases

There are following essential ingredients of FIR under section 154 –
(1) Information- There should be information. Mere information is sufficient. There
is no need of allegation. It can be provided by any person including victims, accused
and third person. Evidentiary value of FIR is changed according to informant,
contents and timing of registration of FIR.
(2) Cognizable Offence – That information must be related to commission of
cognizable offences. Section 2 (c) defines cognizable offence. Cognizable offences are
those offences which require immediate action. In such offences police can arrest78
and investigate79 without warrant of a court.
(3) Recording Authority: Officer in charge of a police station and woman police
officer or any woman officer -It must be made to the officer in charge of a police
station. If the informant is the victim (woman) of acid attack, outrage of modesty,
rape or word intended to insult the modesty of a woman then such information shall
be recorded, by a woman police officer or any woman officer. If the victim is temporarily
or permanently mentally or physically disabled, then such information shall be recorded
by a police officer, at the residence of the person seeking to report such offence or at

a convenient place of such person’s choice, in the presence of an interpreter or a special
educator, as the case may be. The recording of such information shall be video graphed.
(4) Oral or written – Information of offence may be either oral or written. If it is
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. In our country, near
about 25% population is illiterate. So it has been provided that information may be
given orally or in writing.
(5) Signature of informant- Every such information, whether given in writing or
reduced to writing (oral information) as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person
giving it (informant). By signature, he approves that recorded information is true
and there is no manipulation by recording authority. Here, sign includes thumb
impression.
(6) Entering of substance in book – According to Section 154, the substance the
information shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in such form as the
State Government may prescribe in this behalf. ‘General Diary’ has been prescribed
for this purpose. Substance of the information is written in ‘General Diary

Alternative Remedies
If FIR is not registered under Section 154, CrPC, there are many alternative remedies
which were discussed by Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju in Sakiri Vasu v. State of
U.P.and Ors.. Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju said, “If aperson has a grievance that his FIR has not been registered by the police station
under section 154(1) his first remedy is to approach the Superintendent of Police
under Section 154(3) Cr.P.C. or other police officer referred to in Section 36 Cr.P.C. If despite approaching the Superintendent of Police or the officer referred to in Section 36 his grievance still persists, then he can approach Magistrate under Section 156(3)
Cr.P.C. instead of rushing to the High Court by way of a writ petition or a petition
under Section 482 Cr.P.C. Moreover he has a further remedy of filing a criminal
complaint under Section 200 Cr.P.C. …..It is true that alternative remedy is not an
absolute bar to a writ petition, but it is equally well settled that if there is an
alternative remedy the High Court should not ordinarily interfere. He can approach
High Court either through section 482 or with writ petition under article 226 of the constitution of india.

procedure of FIR

Section 154 (FIRis registered)
Section 157 r/w Section 158 (Sending of one copy of FIR forthwith to
Judicial Magistrate in a manner as mentioned in section 158. It helps Magistrate to be vigilant about investigation)
Section 156 (Investigation – Sometimes investigation may start without sending copy of FIR to Judicial Magistrate if practically is not possible to send immediately).
Section 159 Magistrate has option either to order investigation or make an inquiry Investigation
s. 2(h) Preliminary ,Inquiry s. 2(g))

Guidelines for registration of FIR
The Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P. (2013)115 laid down the following
proposition for recording of FIR –
(i) FIR discloses cognizable offence (Mandatory FIR) – Registration of FIR is
mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the information discloses commission of
a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
(ii) FIR does not disclose cognizable offence (Preliminary Inquiry) – If the
information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the
necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain
whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
(iii) If ‘Preliminary Inquiry’ discloses ‘Cognizable Offence’ – If the inquiry discloses
the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered.
If ‘Preliminary Inquiry’ does not discloses ‘Cognizable Offence’ – In cases where
preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure
must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week. It
must disclose reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
(iv) Non-register of FIR is crime – The police officer cannot avoid his duty of
registering offence if cognizable offence is disclosed. Action must be taken against
erring officers who do not register the FIR if information received by him discloses a
cognizable offence.
(v) Purpose of ‘Preliminary Inquiry’- The scope of preliminary inquiry is not to
verify the veracity or otherwise of the information received but only to ascertain
whether the information reveals any cognizable offence.
(vi) ‘Preliminary Inquiry’ in MC, MCD – As to what type and in which cases
preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will depend on the facts and circumstances of
each case. The categories of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as
under:
(a) Matrimonial disputes/family disputes
(b) Commercial offences
(c) Medical negligence cases
(d) Corruption cases
(e) Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for
example, over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for delay.1
The aforesaid are only illustrations and not exhaustive116 of all conditions which
may warrant preliminary inquiry.(vii) ‘Preliminary Inquiry’ should be completed within 7 days – While ensuring and
protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a preliminary inquiry
should be made time bound and in any case it should not exceed 7 days117. The fact
of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in the General Diary entry.
(viii) Registration or preliminary inquiry must be mentioned in ‘General Diary’-
Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information
received in a police station, we direct that all information relating to cognizable
offences, whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, must be
mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the said Diary and the decision to conduct
a preliminary inquiry must also be reflected, as mentioned above.

Relevent cases-

case 1. Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P.2013(13) SCALE 559Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P.2013(13) SCALE 559

case 2. youth bar associationof india v. union Youth Bar Association of India v. Union of India(2016) 9 SCC 473ia

case 3. state of orissa v. sharat chandra sahuState of Orissa v. Sharat Chandra Sahu(1996) 6 SCC 435

Involved Provisions – In this case controversies were revolving around the
following provisions –
❖ Section 155(4), Cr.P.C. – In case of involvement of cognizable and noncognizable offences, whole offences will be treated as cognizable offence.
Section 155(4): Cognizable + non-cognizable = Cognizable
❖ Section 198(1) (c), Cr.P.C. – Court can’t take cognizance of offence under
Section 494, IPC, unless complaint is made by wife or her relati

case 4. Madhubala v. suresh kumar Madhu Bala v. Suresh Kumar(1997) 8 SCC 476

the Court discussed power of magistrate under section 156 (3) and conversion of complaint into FIR

Supreme Court held that complaint may convert into FIR if Magistrate had
received complaint and on the basis of complaint, he used power under Section
156(3) for investigation. That complaint would convert into FIR. After submission of
Police Report, the Magistrate will take cognizance on police report under Section
190(1)(b

A Magistrate can give directions under Section 156
(3) to lodge an FIR. Reason is that the Police cannot start investigation without
lodging of FIR. Police can’t investigate under section 156 (1) without lodging of a
formal FIR.
The Court said, “Indeed, even if Magistrate does not pass a direction to register a case, still
in view of the provisions of Section 156(1) of the Code which empowers the Police to
Investigate into a cognizable case and the Rules framed under the Indian Police Act, 1861 it
(the Police) is duty bound to formally register a case and then investigate into the same. The
provisions of the Code, therefore, does not in any way stand in the way of a
Magistrate to direct the police to register a case at the police station and then
investigate into the same. In our opinion when an order for investigation under
Section 156(3) of the Code is to be made the proper direction to the Police would be
to register a case at the police station treating the complaint as the First Information
Report and investigate into the same”.

According to Section 2(d), Complaint does not include police report except in one
case. If a complaint is made to a Magistrate, the Magistrate has two options –
❖ Either to take cognizance under section 190(1) (a). or
❖ To give direction under section 156(3) for lodging FIR and conducting
investigation. FIR shall be registered under section 154. Investigation shall be
conducted under section 156(1). Police Report shall be submitted under
section 173(2). Now the Court shall take cognizance under section 190(1) (b)
on the basis of Police Report rather than on complaint.
Once on the basis of complaint direction is given under section 156(3), the complaint
converts into FIR under section 154.
In this case, Hon’ble Justice M. Mukherjee observed, “In our opinion when an order
for investigation under section 156(3) of the Code is to be made the proper directionto the Police would be to register a case at the police station treating the complaint as
the First Information Report and investigate into the same”

case 5 . sakiri vasu v. state of UP Sakiri Vasu v. State of U.P.(2008) 2 SCC 409

Ms. Malini alleged commission of offences under sections 498A and 494 IPC against her husband, father in law and mother in law. She went to the neighbouring police station to report the offences, but the SHO declined to register a First Information Report (FIR). In order to have her FIR registered and to have the matter investigated by the police, she made an application to the nearest magistrate under section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. As a consequence of this, the learned magistrate issued an order directing the police to register a case and conduct an investigation. In addition. the magistrate also compelled the investigating officer to provide monthly report on the case’s progress. However, this order has been challenged before the High Court. Decide and explain the power of a magistrate under section 156(3) of Cr.P.C. with the help of the relevant case laws.

answer – Above mention question is based on case of madhubala v. suresh kumar and here magistrate can give order directing the police officer to register an FIR because investigation can not take place without logging of an FIR.