August 2022: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has published its annual report about the crime statistics in India for the year 2021. The annual report includes crime-related observations from the records of the crimes registered at various police stations in India. The comprehensive report of more than 1600 pages is generally considered a reference document for various stakeholders to evaluate the prevalent situation, devise new policies and create deterrence for future occurrences of crimes in society.
Insights in the Reports of NCRB India
One of the first insights of the report is that crime registration in India has declined by 7 per cent. Among other observations in the report, the registration of the cases for crimes against women showed an increase of 15.3%, against children showed an increase of 16.2%, and against senior citizens showed an increase of 5.3%. The registered economic offences showed an increase of 19.4%. The decline in overall crime registration is primarily due to the fact that a major decline (approx. 40 per cent) was seen in the cases registered under Sec. 188 IPC from 6 lakh cases in 2020 to approx. 3 lakhs cases in 2021. Surprisingly, as per the report, the registration of cybercrimes in India and rape crimes against women in India has decreased, whereas Indian citizens are facing these crimes almost on daily basis.
Registration of Crime Vs Registration of FIR
The primary document illustrating the registration of a crime in India is the first information report of the crime and is ordinarily referred to as an FIR. The NCRB has cumulated crime registration-related information using the FIRs registered across the police stations of India. This brings me down to a very fundamental question about the criminal justice system in India. How much easy is it for an informant to register an FIR in India? If the citizens can lodge their FIRs without unjust and unfair efforts, then the NCRB annual reports would be highly reliable, otherwise, when lodging an FIR on its own is a severely painful and discouraging process for the citizens, then the information pertaining to the registration of crimes in NCRB’s annual report is highly debatable.
Indian Courts’ view on the Registration of FIR
Indian courts on various occasions have held that it is incumbent upon the police officer to register an FIR when a cognizable offence is brought to the notice of the police officer. In layman’s language, cognizable offences are those offences for which the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the police officer to arrest the accused without a warrant. Mostly serious crimes such as rape, dacoity, murder, kidnapping and other types of heinous crimes are classified as cognizable offences. It is highly regrettable that even after frequent directions from the Apex Court as well as the High Courts of the country, the registration of an FIR on its own even in cognizable offences is an agonizing process for the citizens. At times, the victim or the complainant has to approach to magistrate through an Advocate, to activate links to a politically/administratively well-connected person, or to bribe the police officers to ensure the registration of the FIR for a crime.
E-FIR or ZERO-FIR
Although few states of the country have launched the concept of E-FIR, that is limited to crimes which are not of cognizable nature. Few states also directed their police officers to register ZERO-FIR for at least cognizable offences even when the police officer believes that the alleged crime does not come under his/her jurisdiction. However, such measures failed to appropriately address the long pending concerns of the citizens to register FIR for the alleged crime on its own.
Going Ahead
The country is already running late on bringing radical amendments to the outdated criminal justice system. The process of registration of the crimes/FIR has to be made independent and must not be dependent on arbitrary decisions of the police officers. If a crime has been committed and informed to the police officer, an FIR must be lodged on the complaint irrespective of whether the alleged commission of the crime corresponds to a cognizable offence or a non-cognizable offence. The prevalent system of registration of crimes is highly unjust, unfair and arbitrary. The owners of the system control as well as manipulate the registration of crimes to establish evidence of their good performance in controlling the crime rates in their respective jurisdictions. If you wish to reduce the crime rate in an area, the manipulation can be to the extent of avoiding the registration of FIR unless it is directed by courts or political masters. For the last 75 years, this system has placed the citizens to remain in a state of helplessness. Unless there existed a just and fair system in place for the citizens to register the FIR for a crime on its own, the section of the NCRB report on the registration of crime remains questionable.
