Police Functioning Demystified - Part V Burking

Some readers had sought the meaning of Cognizable Offence as the term appears in Part IV. So first let me explain it. To put it simply, Cognizable Offence is a heinous or grave offence where the Police Officer is required to file an FIR and book the culprits. Non Cognizable Offence is a mild offence in which the Police Officer is not required to file an FIR.

Burking

Some unscrupulous methods are adopted by the Police to show a low crime rate in their jurisdiction. It is called “burking”. Even if the complainant comes with a cognizable complaint, the Duty Officer generally takes advantage of the ignorance of the common man and convinces him to file an NC. The number of NCs registered does not figure in the list of offences registered in the Police Station and the officials can avoid investigation work. Hence the complainant should insist on filing a cognizable complaint (FIR) if the offence attracts any serious penal sections. If the Duty Officer refuses to register your FIR, you may directly approach the Sr.PI and even if he refuses, you can approach the zonal DCP. If it turns out futile, you can file an application with the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court and seek their intervention. Even if you happen to take a written complaint to the Police Station, the Duty Officer will enter all the details in their proforma for FIR as mandated under section 154 Cr.PC. The sections of the IPC and any other Acts which the offence attracts is also written down in the FIR by the Duty Officer. He also writes down the offence in brief, accurately, and to the point. It should preferably be written in Marathi (local language), Hindi, or English, whichever language the complainant is comfortable in. Avoid complicated, technical words, terminologies, and unnecessary details. After the FIR is fully written, the complainant is allowed to read it. At the end, the complainant can either sign it or give his / her thumb impression. If there is a written complaint, it can be attached to the FIR and made a part of it. The complainant is entitled to a copy of the FIR. No Police Station can send back a complainant with the excuse that they cannot register the FIR in their Police Station as the offence happened in the jurisdiction of some other Police Station. The Police Station where the complainant has approached to lodge an FIR should file a Zero FIR and then send it to the correct Police Station. The complainant is not expected to know the jurisdiction properly and he / she should not be made to run around different Police Stations to lodge an FIR. We can talk about the rights of an arrested person in Part VI.