New Delhi, Nov. 12: Setting at rest conflicting judgments across the country, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court today ruled that it is mandatory for all police officers to register an FIR, forthwith on the complaint of a person and failure to do so would invite disciplinary action against the erring cops.
The bench said only in certain cases where the investigating officer is of the view that the complaint prima facie does not disclose a cognisable offence, then the official has the discretion to conduct a preliminary enquiry to check whether there is any cognisable offence involved for registering an FIR.
If the police officer after the preliminary inquiry finds that there is no case for registration of an FIR, then the same should be recorded in the general diary through a closure report and a copy of the same should be handed over to the informant within seven days, the apex court said.
Preliminary enquiries can be conducted only in certain cases relating to matrimonial disputes, commercial disputes, corruption, medical negligence and in cases where an FIR is lodged after a considerably long time, the bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, justices B.S. Chauhan, Ranjana Prakash Desai, Ranjan Gogoi and S.S. Bobde said in a 91-page unanimous judgment.
Writing the judgment, Justice P. Sathasivam also laid down a slew of guidelines to be followed henceforth in terms of Section 154 CrPC, which deals with the registration of an FIR.
“Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognisable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation,” the bench said.
The bench passed the judgment while answering the reference made to it by a two-judge bench headed by Justice B.N. Agrawal in 2008, in view of conflicting judgments by various high courts and also the Supreme Court on the issue whether an FIR should be registered immediately on a complaint or the investigating officer has the discretion to conduct a preliminary inquiry before registration of the FIR.
While some courts had held that the police have the discretion in deciding the FIR, some had insisted that it was mandatory.
