Even today in the country, many times the common man is not able to easily lodge a complaint with the police about the accidents or incidents that happened to him. There are many delays in filing an incident report (FIR), due to which most of the evidence related to the incident goes away from the reach of the police. FIR is the first information about any cognizable offence, which is prepared by the police officers.
The procedure for registering an FIR has been laid down in Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the country, 1973. This is what we call an FIR registered in any crime in simple language. This report is the key point in starting the judicial process. Usually the FIR is registered in the area where the incident/crime takes place. In which all the details must be accurate and correct.
In today’s time, the police helpline number is also a good way to report any immediate crime. However, there is no need to go to the police station every time to register an FIR. But online FIR is only for petty crimes (theft, snatching, embezzlement, cyber fraud etc.), for serious cases (like rape, murder, dacoity etc.) you have to go to the police station. For online FIR you have to visit the police website of your state or city.
For example, if we take UP Police, then we have to log on to uppolice.gov.in. In the website, you will see the option of Citizen Service at one place. After clicking on it, many options like vehicle theft, e-FIR cyber crime will appear along with registering a complaint. Click on the offense for which you want to complain. Which will take you to the new page. Here you have to register yourself.
Suppose you want to file a complaint of theft of a vehicle, then we have to click on the option of MV (Motar-Vehicle) Theft E-FIR. Then click on Registered User (Registration) and fill your details. After this, an OTP (One Time Password) will come on the mobile given by you, then login by filling it. After this, go to the next page and enter the information related to your stolen vehicle and click on the register button.
After a while of this process, a copy of the FIR will come to your registered email. However, keep in mind that do not file any false case report, otherwise you may face legal action. Apart from this, if the police does not register any complaint, then such person can write his complaint, post or email it to the superintendent of police or other higher officials. Lastly, if the police does not register an FIR, the only option is to approach the Magistrate under Section 200 R/W 156(3) of CrPC and lodge a complaint through a lawyer.