ZERO FIR
WHY IN NEWS ?
- In the ongoing Manipur violence, there are lots of cases in which zero fir’s are registered.
WHAT IS ZERO FIR ?
- When a police station receives a complaint regarding an alleged offence that has been committed in the jurisdiction of another police station, it registers an FIR and then transfers it to the relevant police station for further investigation.
- This is called a Zero FIR.
- No regular FIR number is given.
- After receiving the Zero FIR, the revenant police station registers a fresh FIR and starts the investigation.
PROVISION OF ZERO FIR :
- The provision of Zero FIR came up after the recommendation in the report of the Justice Verma Committee.
- The committee which was constituted to suggest amendments to the Criminal Law in a bid to provide for faster trial and enhanced punishment.
- The committee was set up after the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape case.
- “The provision says: “A Zero FIR can be filed in any Police Station by the victim, irrespective of their residence or the place of occurrence of crime.”
PURPOSE OF ZERO FIR:
- The objective of a Zero FIR is to ensure the victim doesn’t have to run from pillar to post to get a police complaint registered.
- The provision is meant to provide speedy redressal to the victim so that timely action can be taken after the filing of the FIR.
- It establishes the faith of people in the functioning of the police.
- We cannot expect a common man to go find the jurisdiction within which his case falls before imparting the information of the crime.
- It is only obvious that a layman would not know the technicalities of jurisdiction.
- Zero FIR is essential to avoid unnecessary delay. The main idea is to initiate an investigation.
- In India, offences like rape, murder and other heinous offences go unnoticed or unregistered using jurisdiction as an escape, a lot of time is allowed to pass which results in a lack of evidence.
- Zero FIR restricts the concept of passing the buck.
- Such an FIR also proves useful when a person becomes a victim of cognizable offence while travelling. He can go to any police station to register FIR.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, CURRENT AFFAIRS
