Clarification regarding delay in FIR in sister-in-laws suicide matter

618 votes

The attack on prosecution cases on the ground of delay in lodging FIR has almost bogged down as a stereotyped redundancy in criminal cases. It is a recurring feature in most of the criminal cases that there would be some delay in furnishing the firstinformation to the police. It has to be remembered that law has not fixed any time for lodging the FIR. Hence a delayed FIR is not illegal. Of course a prompt and immediate lodging of the FIR is the ideal as that would give the prosecution a twin advantage. First is that it affords commencement of the investigation without any time lapse. Second is that it expels the opportunity for any possible concoction of a false version. Barring these two plus points for a promptly lodged FIR the demerits of the delayed FIR cannot operate as fatal to any prosecution case. It cannot be overlooked that even a promptly lodged FIR is not an unreserved guarantee for the genuineness of the version incorporated therein.
When there is criticism on the ground that FIR in a case was delayed the court has to look at the reason why there was such a delay. There can be a variety of genuine causes for FIR lodgment to get delayed. Rural people might be ignorant of the need for informing the police of a crime without any lapse of time. This kind of unconversantness is not too uncommon among urban people also. They might not immediately think of going to the police station. Another possibility is due to lack of adequate transport facilities for the informers to reach the police station

Advocate Anoop Mishra LawRato

626 votes

DELAY IN LODGING FIR IS NOT ALWAYS FATAL. IN CASE CIRCUMSTANCE WARRANTS, DELAY CAN BE RECTIFIED BY SHOWING SUFFICIENT CAUSE IN NOT LODGING THE FIR WITHIN NO SECONDS. EVERY CASE HAS ITS OWN MERITS AND DE-MERITS. IN SOME CASES, POLICE AFTER TAKING INVESTIGATIONS IN HAND LODGE FIR AFTER CONCLUSION OF PRELIMINARY INQUIRY AFTER RECORDING THE EVIDENCE.

Advocate Vijay Raghav Singh LawRato

823 votes

No, there is not any delay in registering FIR. Even if there has been a delay, in such type of cases court generally excuses delay. You will not get any benefit of such technical points. Better you prepare for you defense.

Advocate Pradeep Naik LawRato