How To Draft A Complaint in Police

HOW TO DRAFT A COMPLAINT
IN POLICE STATION
ABHIJITH HARINDRAN
17BLA1018
As per Section 154 of CrPC every information relating cognizable offence must
be recorded by the Police and copy of FIR should be given to the Complainant.
(1) Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence,
if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced

to writing by him or under his direction, and be read Over to the
informant; and every such information, whether given in writing or
reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it,
and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such
officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf.
(2) A copy of the information as recorded under subsection (1) shall be
given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant.

(3) Any person aggrieved by a refusal on the part of an
officer in charge of a police station to record the information

referred to in subsection (1) may send the substance of such
information, in writing and by post, to the Superintendent of
Police concerned who, if satisfied that such information
discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, shall
either investigate the case himself or direct an investigation
to be made by any police officer subordinate to him, in the
manner provided by this Code, and such officer shall have
all the powers of an officer in charge of the police station in
relation to that offence
Section 2(d) in Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
explains what is a complaint.
(d) " complaint" means any allegation made orally or in

writing to a Magistrate, with a view to his taking action
under this Code, that some person, whether known or
unknown, has committed an offence, but does not include a
police report. Explanation.- A report made by a police officer
in a case which discloses, after investigation, the
commission of a non- cognizable offence shall be deemed to
be a complaint; and the police officer by whom such report
is made shall be deemed to be the complainant;
It is written to inform the police (or police official)
about a certain situation, to lodge a complaint or any
other sort of disturbance/ problem faced by the sender.
It is a letter, which requests the police to take the
necessary action in order to solve the issue mentioned
in the letter.
It clearly mentions the situation and is to the point.
Letter to Police Importance
Helps to reach out in case of any issue
Helps to raise public voice
Helps the police to resolve public grievances
Helps in maintaining law and order
Ensures that society works under an ethical framework
FORMAT
Sender’s Address
Date
Receiver’s Address
Subject Heading
Salutation
Body of the letter
Complimentary Close
Letter to Police Points to remember while making the format
Sender’s address is usually written in 3-4 lines
The subject of the letter should always be underlined
Informal salutations like “Dear” or “My dear” should not be
used
The introductory paragraph of body should tell the purpose of
the letter
The main paragraph of the body should contain details of the
event/problem/issue
The concluding paragraph should enclose the action required or
request made
“Yours truly/faithfully/sincerely” should be used as the
complimentary close
Letter to Police Tips
The authority should be addressed properly.
The problem/ issue should be mentioned clearly and
precisely.
The date, time, place of the occurrence should be
mentioned, if any.
A request should be made for the required action to be
taken.
Proper format should be followed.
Remember to use formal language.
Unnecessary or irrelevant details should not be provided.
The letter should be short, crisp and not lengthy.
Priyanka Srivastava & Anr Vs. State Of
U.P. & Ors.

In a judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India inPriyanka

Srivastava & Anr vs. State Of U.P. & Ors.decided on 19 March, 2015,
by a Bench of Hon’ble Justice Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant held
and described the procedure to be followed for getting an FIR
registered. In a nutshell the judgment held and explained what steps a
complainant has to take to get his FIR registered. It held that“We have
already indicated that there has to be prior applications under Section
154(1) and 154(3) while filing a petition under Section 156(3)”.
To explain Section 154 (1) CrPC, 154 (3) CrPC and 156 (3)
CrPC we must read carefully the said sections, however in a
nutshell Section 154 (1) CrPC says that if a complainant has
any grievance or a complaint, he/ she must report the same,
either in written form or orally to the concerned Police
Station/ Station House Officer/ SHO. In case the SHO refuses
to register a F.I.R. or refuses to act upon the complaint of the
complainant, then as per Section 154 (3) CrPC, he/she must
report to his higher officials i.e. ACP (Assistant Commissioner
of Police)/ DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police)/ CP
(Commissioner of Police), regarding his inaction. In case the
concerned ACP/DCP/CP refuses to act upon your complaint,
or does not act upon your complaint, then the recourse
available to the complainant is to approach the concerned
magistrate Section 156 (3) Cr.P.C. seeking intervention of the
court to register an FIR and act upon the complaint.
Amit Khera v/s Govt. of NCT of Delhi &
Ors.

In a judgment passed in Writ Petition (Crl.) 804 of 2008 Amit Khera V

Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors. Hon’ble HIGH COURT OF DELHI vide a
judgment dated August, 11th 2010 held and observed that an oral complaint
made to the police officer also comes within the purview of Section 2 d,
Cr.P.C. and be registered as a complaint. It also observed that there is no
formal written complaint required and a oral complaint made is also quite
sufficient to ledge an investigation and is well covered under the law and
the contrary judgments passed by the Ld. Metropolitian Magistrate and the
Ld. Sessions Judge were overruled and further the Police Official was
directed to register and FIR forthwith.
If it is doubtful whether the allegations made in the
information make out a cognizable offence, The police

officer will issue a “CSR”, which is nothing but an
acknowledgement of receipt of the compliant and proceed to
conduct “Preliminary enquiry”
Lalita Kumari’s case, the preliminary enquiry is only for
the purpose of determining whether the allegations make

out a cognizable offence. It is not for the purpose of testing
the veracity of the information. The police officer cannot
avoid his duty of registering the offence if a cognisable
offence is disclosed. The action must be taken against the
erring officers who do not register the FIR if information
received in such cases discloses a cognisable offence.
he court provided a detailed list of cases wherein
Preliminary enquiry may be conducted. The list included
matrimonial or family disputes, medical negligence cases,
commercial offences, corruption cases and cases where a
delay occurred in initiating a criminal case
It also ordered that a preliminary inquiry must be initiated
within 7 days in any case, which was later increased in
March 2014 to 15 days in normal cases and 6 weeks in
exceptional cases.

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HOW TO DRAFT A COMPLAINT

if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced

given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant.

officer in charge of a police station to record the information

(d) " complaint" means any allegation made orally or in

In a judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India inPriyanka

In a judgment passed in Writ Petition (Crl.) 804 of 2008 Amit Khera V

information make out a cognizable offence, The police

the purpose of determining whether the allegations make

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