Refusal to register is common and there is a clear escalation ladder for it. Use it in order, because each step creates the record the next step needs.
The legal position
In Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh (2013) a Constitution Bench held that registration of an FIR is mandatory under what is now Section 173 BNSS if the information discloses a cognizable offence, and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a case. A preliminary inquiry is allowed only in limited categories such as matrimonial disputes, commercial offences, medical negligence and cases of abnormal delay, and even then it must be completed within a short period.
The escalation ladder
- Give it in writing at the station and insist on an acknowledgement with a date and stamp. Keep a copy.
- Send it to the Superintendent of Police by registered post or email, under Section 173(4) BNSS. If the SP is satisfied a cognizable offence is disclosed, they must either investigate or direct an officer to do so.
- Apply to the Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS for a direction to the police to register and investigate. This is the step that works. Note that the BNSS requires you to first have made the application to the SP and to support the Magistrate application with an affidavit.
- Private complaint before the Magistrate under Section 223 BNSS, where you prefer the court to take cognizance directly rather than send it back to the police.
- Writ petition before the High Court in an appropriate case, particularly where there is inaction on a serious offence.
Zero FIR
A police station cannot refuse on the ground that the offence took place outside its jurisdiction. It must register a zero FIR and transfer it to the station having jurisdiction. This matters most in cases involving travel, cyber offences and offences against women, where the victim may be far from where the offence occurred.
A police station cannot refuse on the ground that the offence took place outside its jurisdiction. It must register a zero FIR and transfer it to the station having jurisdiction. This matters most in cases involving travel, cyber offences and offences against women, where the victim may be far from where the offence occurred.
Practical points
- Write the complaint carefully. It should disclose the facts constituting the offence, not just an accusation. Vagueness is what gives the station room to refuse.
- Send it by a mode that gives proof of dispatch and delivery.
- Keep the chronology. The Magistrate application is far stronger when it shows the station and the SP were both approached and did nothing.