Mandatory FIR registration and preliminary inquiry requirements when a complaint may or may not disclose a cognizable offence.

Registration of an FIR is mandatory when a complaint discloses a cognizable offence; if it does not, the police must conduct a brief preliminary inquiry to determine whether such an offence is made out. The complaint should not be kept pending, and every complaint received must be entered in the station diary. If the complaint is closed after inquiry, reasons must be recorded. The practical effect is that on a fresh complaint the police must either register the FIR forthwith where a cognizable offence appears, or promptly carry out a preliminary inquiry and then act according to its result.

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Issues: Whether the police were bound to register an FIR on receipt of the complaint and, if the information did not disclose a cognizable offence, whether a preliminary inquiry was required.

Analysis: The complaint was considered in the light of the settled principle that registration of an FIR is mandatory when information discloses commission of a cognizable offence. Where the information does not disclose such offence, the police must first conduct a preliminary inquiry within a short time-frame to ascertain whether cognizable offence is made out. The order further required that any complaint received be reflected in the station diary and that reasons be recorded if the complaint is closed after inquiry.

Conclusion: The complaint was not to be kept in abeyance. The respondents were directed to act on a fresh complaint, register the FIR forthwith if a cognizable offence was disclosed, and otherwise conduct a preliminary inquiry and proceed according to the result.

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