Information as to the commission of offense has been given to an officer in charge of Police Station on the telephone, P.O. reached on spot and recorded the statements of the complainant. Whether Statement of the complainant is presumed FIR.

Question: Information as to the commission of offense has been given to an officer in charge of Police Station on the telephone, P.O. reached on spot and recorded the statements of the complainant. Whether Statement of the complainant is presumed FIR.

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites.[Information as to the commission of offense has been given to an officer in charge of Police Station on the telephone, P.O. reached on spot and recorded the statements of the complainant. Whether Statement of the complainant is presumed FIR.]

Answer

Speedy trial is an important feature of Criminal Justice Administration and at the same time, it shall be done by following a due process enshrined in the procedural laws. As per the due procedure, any information received or FIR is the starting of an investigation process.

FIR is a detailed description of the events that have occurred at the time of the commission of a cognizable offense given to the Police officer. Filing of FIR is governed as per Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure although the word FIR has not been used in Section 145 it only uses the word ‘information of the cognizable offense’.

Since the FIR is made just after the occurrence of the incident it is likely that the FIR is based upon the fresh memory of the informant and fewer chances of it being fabricated. A piece of cryptic information is one that is absurd and incomplete for a Police officer to satisfy himself whether a cognizable offense has been committed or not. Information given on call which does not disclose the required details can be construed as a cryptic call.

It was held by Hon’ble Justice Arijit Pasayat in State of Andhra Pradesh v. VV Panduranga Rao[(2009) 15 SCC 211] that a cryptic telephonic message of a cognizable offense received by the Police agency does not constitute an FIR.

In a telephonic intimation if the information is given only for the purpose of that the police officer to go to the spot or the place of occurrence, then such telephonic call cannot be construed as an FIR. Court further held that here intention of giving a cryptic anonymous call is not to lodge the FIR rather request the police to reach the spot and investigate further.

However, if the information given on call is not cryptic, and is detailed one on the basis of which the Police Officer is able to satisfy himself about the commission of a cognizable offense then it can be treated as an FIR as the informant is willing to participate in the process. To make it an FIR, it should be detailed enough; just because it was informed first in time does not mean that it is an FIR.

In the case of Surajit Sarkar v. State of West Bengal[(2013) 2SSC 146], the main issue was whether a cryptic telephonic intimation given to the police can be described as an FIR for the purposes of Section 154 CrPC?

Hon’ble Supreme Court held that: In a cryptic call, all the ingredients of Section 154 CrPC are not made out. FIR is not an encyclopedia of the events taking place during such incidents but it sets the investigative process in motion. As per Section 154 oral information can be treated as FIR but only when it is backed by some procedural requirements like

• It should be converted into writing,
• it shall be read over to the informant, and
• The informant’s signature has to be present.

The above requirements are not fulfilled if the information is given by a call.

In the facts of the present case, the intimation given to the Police officer was given by a telephonic conversation and after that, the Police Officer went to the spot and then did the detailed inquiry to reach the conclusion that a cognizable offense has been committed. The telephonic conversation cannot be considered as a deemed FIR rather the detailed statement of the complainant recorded by the Police Officer after reaching the spot will be considered as an FIR.

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