Myth #1 - Women cannot be arrested in
the absence of a female police officer.
Myth #2 - The police can refuse to register an FIR for you.
Myth #3 - An FIR can be filed only in the police station within whose geographical limits the crime took place.
Authored by Dwayne Fernandes
Myth
– Women cannot be arrested in the absence of a female police officer.
Busted - We
often hear people saying that ‘Women cannot be arrested in the absence of a
female police officer’, however this statement is true, but just to a point. If
a woman is charged for a cognizable offence, she is liable to be arrested. So
what is done when there is no female police officer present?
On these
grounds, a male officer has the right to arrest a woman in the absence of a
female officer. The conditions, which have to be taken into account on such an
arrest, are mentioned below. Firstly, the arrest has to be during the
day, i.e. sunrise to sunset. In the absence of a female police officer, a woman
who is related to the arrestee or an acquaintance can accompany her until bail
has been posted or till she has to appear in front of an adequate court for the
offence. In between 6 pm and 6 am, a woman has the right to refuse to be
arrested even if an arrest warrant is issued against her unless she is arrested
by a woman and is taken to an all woman police station. The police officer has
to take prior permission from his seniors if he has to arrest a woman in
between the hours of 6 pm and 6 am, or in the absence of such an opportunity,
the officer has to give a detailed reason to his seniors and the magistrate for
not taking such permission. A male police officer has no right to touch a woman
for the purpose of frisking her at anytime.
Authored
by Shreya Valiramani
Myth
– The police can refuse to register an FIR for you.
Busted – It is nothing but a myth that the police can refuse to write an FIR and
that the person concerned doesn’t have a remedy against it. For instance,
you’ve just been robbed of your valuables by two masked men who ran away with
your money and jewellery. You go to the police station where the literate
constable (the person who writes the FIR) refuses to register an FIR for you.
Can the police do so? Can they refuse to write a complaint? What would an
average person who doesn’t know the law regarding it, do in such a
circumstance?
If a police officer
refuses to register it, the substance of the information can be sent by post to
the Assistant Commissioner of police or deputy commissioner of police of the
respective zone or commissioner of police. If satisfied that the information discloses
the commission of a cognizable offence, one shall get the FIR registered and
investigated.
If the FIR is still
not filed, you may file an RTI or file a complaint to the state home ministry,
or file a private complaint with the magistrate under Section 190 of the CRPC.
The magistrate has the power to take cognizance of cases when it receives a
police report of such facts or a complaint or on information from a private
person other than a police officer.
Myth
- An FIR can be filed only in the police station within whose geographical
limits the crime took place.
Busted –
Is this true? No. One can file an FIR in a police station even though it does
not have the jurisdiction to take up the investigation of the case or in
simpler words in a police station that is not within the geographical limits of
the crime that took place but only for situations that require an immediate
action. The reason behind it is the concept of ‘Zero FIR’ which means that an
FIR can be filed in any police station irrespective of place of
incident/jurisdiction and the same can be later transferred to the appropriate
police station. While filing an FIR one gets it written in the police diary
where the FIR is registered with a number, for cases that are outside the
jurisdiction however, FIR is registered with zero number (hence ZERO FIR) and
is later transferred to the police station where it should appropriately be
investigated. For emergency situations such as a murder where an immediate
action is required, the police cannot excuse themselves saying that the case
does not will fall within their jurisdiction as it would hamper the objective
of maintaining law and order[1]. Thus,
one could get their FIR registered but the investigation would begin only after
it is transferred to the correct police station.
[1] Satvinder Kaur
v. State(govt of NCT of Delhi), 1999 Supp(3) SCR 348.
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