FIR Full Form Name: FIR Meaning
Full Form of FIR :
First Information Report
FIR Full Form is First
Information Report. Any report of crime or cognizable offense, when it
first reaches the police, an official document is prepared with all details of
the case. This documents is termed as FIR. So an FIR is documented by the
police once a complaint is received. It plays a very significant role in a
case, as it determines the process of justice in motion.
In other words, only after the
written document of FIR is filed, a police can start investigating on a case.
Any individual including the victim who knows about an offense can file FIR.
Hence, the FIR basically has all information like; (1) Name and address of the
person who files the case, (2) Time, location, and date of the offense or
incident reported, (3) The facts of offense as witnessed or occurred, (4) Names
of the accused and every other person involved in the incident, etc.
FIR Full Form – Additional
Information
What we are talking about is an
essential document the use of which must be adequately known to the public.
First Information Report, which will hereinafter be referred to as FIR, is that
document. FIR is basically a document in writing, which is prepared by the
police in countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The document is
prepared on receipt of information regarding a cognizable offence and its commission.
To be simpler, an FIR is a
complaint that is lodged by the person, who is the victim of that offence, or
any other person on behalf of the victim. Such a report or complaint can also
be lodged also. FIR is regarded as a crucial document in criminal justice
system primarily because it causes the criminal justice system in motion. On
lodging of FIR only, the police can take up the matter for investigation, and
therefore, it holds great value.
Apart from those mentioned above,
any person who has knowledge of the commission of a cognizable offence, who
also includes a police officer, can lodge an FIR. In India, we have Criminal
Procedure Code and the Judiciary to supervise the law on FIR. It is important
that some very important aspects of FIR are dealt with significant elaboration.
So, here are five things about FIR which everyone must know. It is to be noted
that the following facts pertain to Indian position on FIR:
Overview of FIR
It is necessary to note down the
following:
§ As mentioned
before, an FIR can be oral or in writing.
§ Where the
account of the commission of a cognizable offence has been verbally furnished,
it is an obligation on the part of the police officer to write the oral
account.
§ After the
police officer has jotted down the details of the account, it is obligatory on
the part of the officer to read out the document and ensure that the record is
written in the exact manner as orally furnished.
§ Not only that,
person lodging the FIR has the right to ensure that the police officer reads
out the document in order to confirm it is correct.
§ Once the person
is satisfied that the document is correctly laid down, the person should sign
the document.
§ Followed by the
sign of the person filing the FIR, the document must be signed and then registered
by the police officer.
§ After having
done that, the police must hand over the copy of the FIR to the applicant.
§ The copy is
handed over to the person without any fee charged.
§ It is suggested
that the person files an FIR in the police station within whose jurisdiction
the alleged cognizable offence has been committed. The reason behind this is
that it will cause expeditious investigation into the matter and will save a
lot of resources and time.
Details to be furnished in an FIR
If the person filing the FIR is
the victim or is a witness, he must offer a clear description of the incidents,
which were experienced or witnessed. In case, the person filing only possesses
second-hand knowledge about the event, he must exactly tell what and all he has
heard about or knows personally.
Caution must be given and no
exaggerations should be made. It is important that there are no assumptions
that are reported. The report should be as objective as possible and must not
be vague or otherwise, it would be difficult for the police to investigate into
the matter adequately and effectively.
Limitations of FIR
An FIR comes with few limitations
that must be borne in mind. One such limitation is that an FIR can only be
lodged in respect of a crime that is cognizable in nature. If supposing a
person complaints about a commission of a non-cognizable crime, he must not be
shooed away. Instead, the police must hear him/ her out and record the matter
in the daily register of station diary. Following this, a copy of the entry is
to be furnished as an evidence that the matter has been adequately recorded.
The copy is to be furnished free of cost to the complainant. The receipt of
such copy is actually a right vested in the complainant.
Refusal to register an FIR
If there is an instance wherein
the police officer refuses to register the FIR, then a complaint in this regard
can be made to the high ranking official, for example, the Superintendent of
Police (abbreviated as SP), the Inspector General of Police (abbreviated as
IGP), or the Deputy Inspector General (abbreviated as DIG). If not the
aforementioned remedy, the person can also file a complaint to the judicial
magistrate nearby.
The Magistrate can then make
necessary orders obligating the police officer to register the FIR. A written
complaint can be sent to the National Human Rights Commission (abbreviated as
NHRC) or the State Human Rights Commission stating lack of responsible behavior
on the part of the police officer. Nobody can stop you from filing an FIR and
if someone does, you always have a remedy to avail.
What follows after registration
of an FIR?
As mentioned before, the filing
of an FIR sets the criminal justice system in motion. When the FIR is
registered the police commences an investigation into the alleged commission of
the cognizable offence. The investigation comprises interrogation, collection
of evidence, analysis of the crime scenes, chalking out suspects, a record of
statements, etc. If there is strong suspicion, even arrests could be made.
When the police have completed
its investigation, it moves one step forward and formulates a charge sheet.
When there is the satisfaction that charge sheet is sufficient, the case shall
proceed to court for judicial determination. If, however, even after the conclusion
of an investigation by the police, it does not have sufficient evidence, then
the police can very well close the case concerned but only after citing proper
reasons on it to the court.
The decision shall be duly
informed to the person, who has filed the FIR. All of it must have made it
clear that FIR is very instrumental in the criminal justice system of the
country and acts as a document with considerable evidentiary value. Thus,
people must know about it adequately.
FIR, an evidence?
It has been repeatedly mentioned
that FIR is an important piece of information so a question might arise as to
whether it is an evidence in the court of law. Section 157 of the Evidence Act,
an FIR could be an evidence. The provision provides that any previous statement
made by any witness pertaining to a fact can be used for the purposes of
corroboration. Such statements are nevertheless subject to cross-examination.
If the FIR was filed by the
accused himself, then it will not be used as an evidence against him because of
the simple fact that an accused cannot stand as a prosecution witness and it
will be very rare that he will offer himself as a defense witness as per
section 315 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In the case of Pandurang
Chandrakant Mhatre v. the State of Maharashtra, the court held that FIR can
be utilized for the purpose of discrediting the testimony of the witness.