You have not clarified in your question whether the complaint given by you to police is with regard to a cognizable offence or a non-cognizable offence. The FIR under Section 154 Cr.P.C. can be filed by police only in respect of a cognizable offence. In respect of a non-cognizable offence, you can file a private complaint directly in the court since the police has no power to register FIR.
Now, in case your complaint related to a cognizable offence and police did not register the FIR, then, the following may be noted:
(1) It is mandatory to register FIR if the complaint discloses cognizable offence. This has been re-affirmed in a recent judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P., (2014) 2 SCC 1 : 2014 Cri LJ 470 : AIR 2014 SC 187. It was held that, however, if the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not. It was held that the category of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under: (a) Matrimonial disputes/family disputes; (b) Commercial offences; (c) Medical negligence cases; (d) Corruption cases; (e) Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months’ delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for delay.
(2) Sub-section (3) of Section 154 of Cr.P.C. provides that: “Any person aggrieved by a refusal on the part of an officer in charge of a police station to record the information referred to in sub-section (1) may send the substance of such information, in writing and by post, to the Superintendent of Police concerned who, if satisfied that such information discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, shall either investigate the case himself or direct an investigation to be made by any police officer subordinate to him, in the manner provided by this Code, and such officer shall have all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in relation to that offence.” So, if the police station refused to register FIR, you may take action as per Section 154(3) of the Cr.P.C.
(3) You may also approach the Magistrate under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. for directing the police to register FIR and investigate the matter.
(4) You can file a private complaint in the court under Section 190 / 200 of Cr.P.C.
(5) In some exceptional cases, you may also approach the high court for seeking direction to register the FIR and investigate.
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.
.
