Once a complaint disclosing commission of a cognizable offence is given to the police, it is required to register the FIR immediately on receipt of the complaint. This is the requirement of law under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
It is a different thing that sometimes the police will deliberately delay the registration of the FIR or may sometimes even refuse to register the FIR. However, I may point out that recently a 5-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the case of Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P., (2014) 2 SCC 1 : AIR 2014 SC 187 : 2014 Cri LJ 470, has held that it is mandatory for the police to register FIR on the basis of an information or complaint which discloses commission of a cognizable offence.
In any case, three days’ period is more than sufficient to register the FIR. In fact, it should be registered on the same day when the complaint is given, as I pointed out above. If the police is up to some mischief or deliberately tries to avoid registration of the FIR, then it is a different thing because then you may have to approach the court, etc. But, the intention of the law is very clear to register the FIR immediately on receipt of complaint disclosing commission of cognizable offence.
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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