Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure, which deals with registration of FIR or the First Information Report, starts with the words, “Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the informant; and every such information, whether given in writing or reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it, and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf…”.
So, any information that discloses commission of a cognizable offence can be treated as FIR. It can even be oral information given to the SHO (officer in charge of the police station).
Therefore, there appears to be no legal bar for the email being treated as an FIR if it discloses the commission of a cognizable offence.
In fact, recently, it was officially stated that an FIR can be filed with Tripura Police through an SMS or via an email.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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