FIR Under Section 173 BNSS: How to File (Old CrPC 154)

Since 1 July 2024 an FIR is registered under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, not Section 154 of the CrPC. The basic rule is the same: if you tell the police about a cognizable offence, they have to write it down. But the new section adds a few things people now rely on every day, like the zero FIR, the e-FIR and a free copy for the victim.

One thing trips people up. In the old CrPC, Section 173 was the charge sheet. In the BNSS, Section 173 is the FIR, and the charge sheet moved to Section 193. So when someone says "173", check which Code they mean.

What Section 173 says

• 173(1): information about a cognizable offence can be given to the officer in charge of a police station orally or electronically, whatever the area where the offence took place. Oral information is written down, read back to you, and signed by you. Electronic information is taken on record once you sign it within three days.
• 173(2): a copy of the FIR has to be given at once, free of cost, to the informant or the victim.
• 173(3): for offences punishable with three years or more but less than seven, the officer may, with the permission of a DSP, hold a preliminary enquiry for up to 14 days to see if there is a prima facie case.
• 173(4): if the officer refuses to record the information, you can send it in writing by post to the Superintendent of Police, and after that go to the Magistrate.

Old CrPC sections and their new BNSS numbers

The whole chapter on police investigation moved. If you are reading an older order or judgment, this is the map:

For any other section, the IPC to BNS converter covers the CrPC to BNSS mapping too.

Cognizable or non-cognizable: does an FIR apply?

An FIR is only for a cognizable offence, one where the police can arrest without a warrant. Theft, robbery, murder, rape and cheating under Section 318(4) of the BNS are all cognizable. The First Schedule to the BNSS tells you which offences are.

For a non-cognizable offence, Section 174 applies. The police note the substance of what you said in a register and refer you to the Magistrate. They can't investigate it without the Magistrate's order.

How to file an FIR, step by step

1. Go to the police station, ideally the one for the area where the offence happened. Any station will do if you can't (see zero FIR below).
2. Tell the officer what happened, or hand over a written complaint. Keep it factual: the date, time and place, what happened, who did it if you know, what was taken or damaged, and who saw it.
3. If you speak, the officer writes it down. Ask them to read it back and correct anything that is wrong before you sign. What is in the FIR matters later, and gaps in it are used at trial.
4. Sign it, and take your free copy with the FIR number, the date and the sections on it.

You don't need a lawyer to file an FIR, and you don't need to know which section applies. Getting the section right is the police's job.

Zero FIR

The words "irrespective of the area where the offence is committed" in Section 173(1) put the zero FIR into the statute. A station can't turn you away because the offence happened somewhere else. It has to register the FIR and send it to the station that has jurisdiction. This matters most in cases where delay costs evidence, like sexual offences, accidents and kidnapping.

e-FIR

You can now give information electronically, through a state police portal or by email where the state allows it. It becomes part of the record once you sign it within three days. Until you sign, the police don't treat it as a registered FIR, so don't skip that step.

If the complainant is a woman

For offences such as rape, sexual harassment, stalking, voyeurism and acid attack, the information must be recorded by a woman police officer or another woman officer. If the woman is mentally or physically disabled, it is recorded at her home or a place she chooses, with an interpreter or special educator, and the recording is videographed.

Preliminary enquiry before an FIR

In Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh (2013) the Supreme Court held that the police must register an FIR when the information discloses a cognizable offence. It allowed a short preliminary enquiry only in a few kinds of cases, such as matrimonial disputes, commercial offences, medical negligence, corruption, and cases with an unexplained delay in reporting.

Section 173(3) adds a statutory route. For an offence punishable with three years or more but less than seven, the officer may, with a DSP's prior permission, hold an enquiry for up to 14 days to check for a prima facie case, or go straight to investigation if there is one. A lot of everyday offences fall in that band.

What to do if the police refuse

1. Write to the Superintendent of Police. Under Section 173(4), send the substance of your information in writing, by post, to the SP. If it shows a cognizable offence, the SP must investigate or have it investigated. Keep the postal receipt.
2. Apply to the Magistrate.If the SP doesn't act, apply to the Magistrate under Section 175(3), which was Section 156(3) of the CrPC. The application must be supported by an affidavit, which the Supreme Court had already required in Priyanka Srivastava v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2015). The Magistrate can order the police to register the case and investigate.
3. Or file a complaint. You can also file a private complaint before the Magistrate, who then examines you and your witnesses.

An officer who fails to record information about certain offences, including rape, acid attack and trafficking, commits an offence under Section 199 of the BNS, punishable with six months to two years.

What happens after the FIR

The officer sends a report to the Magistrate and starts the investigation under Section 176. Witness statements are recorded under Section 180, and statements before a Magistrate under Section 183. For offences punishable with seven years or more, a forensic team has to visit the scene once the state has notified the date. The investigation ends with a police report under Section 193, which is the charge sheet, or a closure report.

If you are named in an FIR you think is false, you can seek anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the BNSS, and ask the High Court to quash the FIR under Section 528, which was Section 482 of the CrPC.

Questions people ask

Filing over a fraud? Our guide to Section 318 BNS and the punishment for cheating covers which kind of cheating is cognizable. The CrPC 154 page shows the old and new text side by side.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the bare Act and speak to a lawyer about your own case.