Cuttack, Oct. 15: A PIL filed in Orissa High Court has raised the issue of lack of provision for immediate supply of first investigation reports (FIRs) registered with the police to the accused persons or their kin.

Arun Kumar Budhia, a member of the high court bar, contends that in the absence of a provision for supplying FIRs to accused persons or their kin, they are facing untold difficulties in seeking “appropriate relief for protecting their right to life and personal liberty”.

“The very right of the accused person gets defeated in the absence of a copy of the FIR in which he has been named, as he does not remain in a position to know the exact nature of allegations labelled against him to approach the appropriate forum for obtaining relief,” said Budhia.

The PIL has sought intervention of the high court to enable accused persons to get copies of the FIR immediately after its registration. The PIL will be taken up for hearing when the court proceedings resume after the Puja vacation on October 19.

According to the petition, the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has no provision to supply an accused person a copy of the FIR in which he has been named at the time of its registration. Only the complainant has the right to receive a copy of the FIR.

The CrPC has provisions to supply to the accused a copy of the police report and other documents, which include the FIR, recorded at the police station. But the provisions only come into effect after completion of police investigation and submission of final the form. Before this stage, there is no provision under the CrPC for an accused to be supplied with a copy of the FIR.

Citing the plight of the accused while trying to obtain anticipatory bail or regular bail, the petition said the accused had to prove his innocence in the court before which such application was filed. But in order to establish his innocence or fact stated in the FIR to be incorrect, it was necessary for the accused to know the contents of the FIR.

“Hence, the accused is denied of his valuable right to protection of life and personal liberty vis-à-vis right to protection against detention and arrest guaranteed under Article 21 and 22 of the constitution,” contends the petition.

While expecting intervention of the high court, the PIL has sought “appropriate direction to the state government to furnish a copy of FIR being registered by the police to accused persons or their relatives”.

The petitioner has further sought “direction to the Orissa police to upload the FIRs in their website within a reasonable time after registration and permit the accused to download the copy of the FIR and file the same in appropriate court for seeking appropriate relief”.