Case: Lalita Kumari v Government of Uttar Pradesh
Date of Order / Judgment: 17th August, 2024
The Matter Heard by Bench: Justice P Sathasivam (C.J), Justice B.S. Chauhan, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Justice
Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S.A. Bobde.
Background
Lalita Kumari, the petitioner, challenged the refusal of the police to register a First Information
Report (FIR) despite her complaint alleging a cognizable offense. The refusal to register the FIR led
Lalita Kumari to approach the Supreme Court, seeking a declaration that the police are obligated to
register an FIR upon receiving such a complaint.
Issues
- 1. Whether the police are mandated to register an FIR upon receiving a complaint about a
cognizable offense under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973.
- 2. Whether obligatory registration of FIR under Section 154, of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973, without preliminary inquiry violates the right to life of the accused under Article 21 of
the Constitution?
- 3. Whether a preliminary inquiry can be conducted before registering an FIR in cases involving
cognizable offenses.
Observations :
The Supreme Court observed that:
- • Section 154 of the CrPC, 1973, requires that the police must register an FIR when a
cognizable offense is reported. A cognizable offense is one for which the police have the
authority to arrest without a warrant and to start an investigation with or without the
permission of a court.
- • Preliminary inquiries should not be used to avoid the registration of an FIR. They are
generally intended for cases where the information received is unclear or does not
immediately establish a cognizable offense.
- • The Court further noted that Section 154(1) uses the expression ‘information’ unlike Section
41 which uses expressions such as ‘credible information’ or ‘reasonable complaint’.
Therefore, the Court held that the absence of prefixes such as ‘reasonable’ or ‘credible’ in
Section 154(1) denotes that the police officer need not necessarily get into the rationality or
accuracy of the information received while registering the FIR and hence cannot refuse for
registration of FIR on those grounds.
Decision:
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lalita Kumari, stating that:
- • The police are required to register an FIR as soon as they receive information about a
cognizable offense. Failure to do so is considered a violation of legal and constitutional
obligations and shall invite contempt.
- • The Court ruled that conducting an investigation after registration of FIR under Section
154(1) of CrPC is the “procedure established by law” and hence is in accordance with Article
21 of the Constitution. The Court noted that if the FIR is filed first and the inquiry is carried
out in compliance with the law, the accused’s rights under Article 21 of the Constitution are
safeguarded.
- • Although the Court ruled that the registration of FIR under Section 154(1) is a mandatory
procedure that has to be followed by the police officer upon the receipt of any information
disclosing the commission of any cognizable offences, it also noted that there are certain
instances where a preliminary enquiry might be necessary. Some of the exceptions to the
ruling of mandatory registration of FIR are as follows.
- o Medical Negligence
- o Matrimonial Cases
- o Corruption cases
- o Commercial offences
- o Cases of abnormal delay in reporting
With the enactment of the new Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, there have been
some changes to the legal framework established by the CrPC.
Under the BNSS:
- • There is a scope for preliminary inquiries in certain situations before an FIR is registered,
which directly modifies the effect of the Lalita Kumari judgment.
- • The revised legislation provides more flexibility regarding the preliminary inquiry process,
potentially allowing police to assess the validity of a complaint before registering an FIR. This
adjustment tweaks the Supreme Court's ruling by permitting some pre-FIR scrutiny in
specific cases, thereby altering the procedural landscape for handling complaints about
cognizable offenses.