The offence has occurred in Delhi immediately before the lockdown. I return to my native place at Patna just after the lockdown. How could I lodge fir where the offence has not been committed?
Question from: Patna
Section 154 crpc does not mandate to lodge FIR in the police station where the offence has been committed. You can lodge FIR at any place. When a person lodges the FIR at the place other than the place of occurrence that FIR is said “zero FIR”. The police will transfer the said FIR to the competent police station instead of doing an investigation on the basis of that “Zero FIR”.
Zero FIR
The police station which has no territorial jurisdiction over the place of occurrence will register the FIR with serial number “0” i.e. zero, therefore, that FIR is called zero FIR. After heinous “Nirbhaya Case” of December 2012, the Justice Verma Committee Report has recommended as making a provision in CrPC for lodging zero FIR. In its recommendation, the Verma Committee has said that
A Zero FIR can be filed in any police station by the victim, irrespective of their residence or the place of occurrence of crime.
In Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P.: (2014) 2 SCC 1: AIR 2014 SC 187, the Supreme Court has clearly mentioned that the registration of FIR is mandatory. Thus the police officer is duty-bound to register the FIR despite it has no territorial jurisdiction.
So you should lodge the FIR in the police station of Patna in whose territorial jurisdiction you are currently residing. That police officer will transfer the FIR to the police station of Delhi.
If the police officer refuses to lodge your FIR then you can send the information to the Superintendent of Police of Patna under section 154(3) of the CrPC.
