Refusal to file F.I.R

July 2, 2011 Raahnuma

What to do if a Police Officer refuses to write your FIR?

Centre for Peace & Development Initiatives (CPDI-Pakistan) provides the following information on steps an individual can take if police do not register an FIR:

  1. You can meet the District Police Officer (DPO) or Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) or other higher officers like Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police and Provincial Police Officer (PPO) and bring your complaint to their notice.
  2. You can send your complaint in writing and by post to the DPO, CCPO, DIG or PPO concerned. If the DPO, CCPO, DIG or PPO is satisfied with your complaint, he shall order the registration of FIR.
  3. You can file a complaint to the District Public Safety and Police Complaints Authority in your district.
  4. You can file a private complaint before the court having jurisdiction.

Credit:

When any of your other legal rights have been violated by a public authority, the Federal or provincial governments or local authority, and when no immediate and adequate remedy is available, you can file a writ in the High Court in the following circumstances:

  1. When the concerned authority has acted in violation of law, or not acted in the way it was required to act or in a manner which the law does not empower it to do. The court can order the authority to refrain from doing that which is not required by law or order it to do what is required by law, e.g., a false case has been registered against you.
  2. When an authority has ordered something to be done which the authority was not legally empowered to order. The court can declare such an act null and void.
  3. If a public authority’s appointment is disputed or the rounds for a person holding a public office are not clear. The court can ask the authority to explain under what law and authority the office is being held -e.g., a college principal is appointed in violation of seniority.
  4. When a person is being held in illegal confinement against their will by a public authority or by a private person. The court can order the production of the person in court and check the reasons for confinement and set the person free if there is no legal authority – known as a habeas corpus petition, this can be used to restore he custody of children snatched by a parent away from the parent who has rightful custody or to trace persons illegally held by the state agencies.

The Rights of a Female Accused:

In 1994 the Criminal Procedure Code (Sec.167) was amended to provide greater protection to accused women. These changes have greatly reduced the chances of abuse of women in custody. Any violation of the protective procedures and provisions mentioned below can be challenged in the courts.

A woman accused of an offence:

  1. is to be arrested and searched only by female police;
  2. cannot be arrested nor kept in a police station (thana) after sunset and before sunrise;
  3. can only be interrogated in the presence of female guards;
  4. Magistrates can only give Police permission to keep an accused woman in police custody in cases of murder or dacoity; such permission must also record the reasons in writing;
  5. is to be sent to jail and can only be interrogated by the investigating police officer in the premises of the jail and in the presence of a female police officer;
  6. can only be taken out of jail for the purposes of an investigation during daytime and if permission is granted by a Magistrate and she is accompanied by a female police officer appointed by the Magistrate.

An accused woman’s right to bail is the same as a male accused’s rights in bailable offences (usually minor offences), but for non-bailable offences (e.g., dacoity) women are given greater benefits by the law and the courts can order that an accused woman be granted bail simply on the grounds that she is a woman (CrPC Sec.497).

 

Reference: SDPI – Know Your Rights