Zero FIR / Complaining at a Police Station which Does Not have Area Jurisdiction

Can a complaint only be submitted in the police station having area jurisdiction? / Zero FIR

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It is common knowledge amongst legally aware citizens these days (i.e. in June 2025) that a complaint to the police about any (specific) crime can be filed at any police station, and not necessarily at the police station which has got territorial jurisdiction over the place where the said crime has occurred. But what is the justification for making such a facility available to the public? And what is the exact procedure which takes place when a complaint is filed in this manner? Read on to learn the answers to these 2 questions.

Often it happens that the police station which is nearest to the place where the crime was committed is not the Area Police Station for that place. But it is natural for the victim / complainant –who is in a state of confusion (due to shock and trauma) following the commission of the crime– to approach that specific police station which is nearest to the place where the crime was committed.

It is also possible that the victim / complainant is not aware of the fact that (as per law) the Area Police Station is the responsible police station, and so he goes to either the nearest police station or even to some other police station, like for example the police station which is nearest to his place of employment.

It can also happen that the crime was committed in a moving train or bus or other means of transport, and it was not feasible for the victim / complainant to break his / her journey for the sole purpose of filing a complaint with the police. In such cases the victim's priority is to reach his home / his destination, and only after reaching his home / destination is he able to compose himself (albeit to only a limited extent) and to start thinking about filing a criminal complaint. In fact, in situations wherein the victim was headed away from his home when the crime was committed, he often first reaches the destination, then carries out his work there as best as he can, then starts the journey back to his home, and only after returning home is he able to get into a frame of mind of complaining to the police.

It also happens very often that the victim(s) is / are hospitalized (due to injuries or severe mental trauma) immediately after the commission of the crime, and is / are therefore not able to travel to the Area Police Station. In such cases it is humane for the police to reach their bedside and record their complaint there. But this is done extremely rarely. What usually happens is that the complaint does not get filed while the victims are in hospital. Eventually they get discharged from the hospital, but are advised to rest at home for a specified period even after getting discharged. In such cases it often happens that the victim goes to the police station which is nearest to his place of residence and not to the police station which has jurisdiction over the place where the crime was committed.

Even in cases without injuries, victims of crimes are invariably mentally shaken, and are able to substantially regain their composure only after a sufficient period of time has elapsed. For a variety of reasons which are unspecifiable here because of being unknown, victims in a condition of mental stress might approach a different police station and not the one which has area jurisdiction.

In all the above situations it is legally permitted for the complainant to get his complaint registered in the very first police station which he approaches. The said police station will make an entry of the same in its register of complaints and also in its daily diary, but not in its register of FIRs. It will record the complaint as what is called a Zero F.I.R., which is not an FIR but is the first step in a 2 step procedure (required in such a situation) for actual registration of an FIR.

The said police station will thereafter forward the said Zero FIR to the police station which has got area jurisdiction over the same, and the latter police station will record it in its register of FIRs, it register of complaints, and also its daily diary.

The system of Zero FIRs was present even during the time when the Criminal Procedure Code (1973) was in force, in spite of the fact that there was no specific provision in the CrPC regarding registration of such FIRs. The BNSS (Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita) was notified in the Gazette of India on the 25th of December 2023, and it entered into force from the 1st of July, 2024. Now, Section 173(1) of the BNSS ^[27] provides a legal basis for Zero FIRs. It states that "Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, irrespective of the area where the offence is committed, may be given orally or by electronic communication...".