A cognizable offence must first be reported to police
A person aggrieved by a cognizable offence committed by someone else must first inform the officer in charge of a police station, who is required to record it in writing, read it back to the informant, and obtain their signature, under Section 154(1) of the Code of Criminal Proceedure,1967 (CrPC), says the Supreme Court ( SC) in Ranjit Singh Bath & Anr. v Union Territory Chandigarh & Anr [Criminal Appeal No: 4313/ 2024].
In case of no action make a complaint to DPC
If the police refuse to register the complaint, Section 154(3) allows the complainant to submit a written complaint to the District Police Chief (DPC). The Superintendent may then investigate the case or assign a subordinate officer to do so.
After that make a complaint to the Magistrate
Such a person, who exhausts the remedies available under Sections 154 (1) and 154 (3) of the CrPC, alone can seek a Magistrate’s direction under Section 156 (3) of the CrPC to register an FIR and investigate a cognizable offence, they must first exhaust the remedies under Sections 154 (1) and 154 (3) of the CrPC.
Exhaust the remedies & then approach the Magistrate
Only after the remedies under Section 154 (1) and 154 (3) CrPC are exhausted then only the complainant has the right to approach the Magistrate under Section 156 (3) CrPC to seek an order for investigation.
Complaint must be accompanied by an affidavit
Such an application before the Magistrate must be accompanied by an affidavit to ensure that the applicant takes responsibility for the allegations made.
Judgements the SC relied on
The SC relied on Priyanka Srivastava and Anr. v State of U.P. & Ors [AIR 2015 SC 1758], and Babu Venkatesh & Ors. v State of Karnataka & Anr, for emphasizing the necessity of exhausting remedies under Section 154 CrPC before invoking Section 156 (3) CrPC and making a complaint to the Magistrate for directing the Police Officer to register a FIR.
References
- Ranjit Singh Bath & Anr. v Union Territory Chandigarh & Anr [Criminal Appeal No: 4313/ 2024]
- Priyanka Srivastava and Anr. v State of U.P. & Ors [AIR 2015 SC 1758]
- Babu Venkatesh & Ors. v State of Karnataka & Anr
