Getting an FIR registered, and what to do if the police refuse

What the police are required to do

Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — in force since 1 July 2024, and the successor to section 154 of the CrPC — requires the officer in charge of a police station to record every piece of information about a cognizable offence in writing, whether you give it orally or send it electronically, and to read it back to you.

You are entitled to a copy of the FIR free of cost. That is a statutory entitlement, not a favour, and there is no fee for it.

For anything that happened before 1 July 2024 the equivalent provision is section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The requirement is materially the same; the section number is not.

If the station will not register it

The section itself provides the escalation. You may send the substance of the information in writing, by post, to the Superintendent of Police. Keep proof of posting — the date you sent it is what makes the refusal provable.

You may also approach a Magistrate. Both routes exist precisely because a refusal at the station is a known failure mode, and neither requires you to persuade the same officer who has already declined.

Write down what you sent and when

Whatever route you take, keep a dated copy of what you gave the police and of any acknowledgement. Almost every later dispute about an FIR is a dispute about timing, and the record you make on the day is the only one that will exist.

Provisions cited

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, s. 173

FIR in cognizable cases. In force 1 July 2024; successor to CrPC s. 154.

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, s. 154

Repealed 1 July 2024. Applies to information about offences before that date.

Last checked on 13 Aug 2026.