Police Not Registering Your FIR in Gurugram? Your Rights and Remedies Under the BNSS

You go to a police station in Gurugram to report a crime, and the officer on duty tells you to "come back later", asks you to "settle it between yourselves", or simply refuses to write anything down. This happens more often than it should, and it leaves people feeling that they have nowhere to go. The law, however, is clear that the police must register an FIR for serious (cognizable) offences, and it gives you several practical routes if they do not.

This article explains your rights under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) from 1 July 2024, and the steps you can take, in order, if the police are not registering your FIR.

First, is your complaint about a cognizable offence?

The duty to register an FIR applies to cognizable offences: offences where the police can arrest without a warrant and start investigating without a court's permission. Theft, robbery, cheating, criminal breach of trust, serious assault, sexual offences, dowry-related cruelty and most online frauds fall in this category.

For non-cognizable offences (for example, many minor quarrels or simple insults), the police record the information in a register and refer you to the Magistrate; they cannot investigate without the Magistrate's order. So if the police say your matter is "non-cognizable", that is not automatically wrong. It is worth checking which offence your facts actually disclose.

Your basic rights when giving information to the police

Under Section 173 BNSS (formerly Section 154 CrPC):

• The police must record information about a cognizable offence. It can be given orally (the officer must write it down and read it back to you) or in writing.
• Jurisdiction is not an excuse. The law now expressly allows information to be given at any police station, irrespective of the area where the offence took place. This is commonly called a "Zero FIR"; the station records it and transfers it to the police station that has jurisdiction.
• Electronic information is recognised. Information can be given by electronic means, but it is taken on record once the person giving it signs it within three days.
• You are entitled to a free copy of the information as recorded.

The Supreme Court has also held, in a Constitution Bench judgment (Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh), that registration of an FIR is mandatory when the information discloses a cognizable offence, with only limited categories where a preliminary inquiry may come first.

The "preliminary enquiry" exception

The BNSS adds one new feature. For cognizable offences punishable with imprisonment of three years or more but less than seven years, the officer in charge may, with the permission of an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, conduct a preliminary enquiry within 14 days to see whether there is a prima facie case. This is not a licence to delay indefinitely. If you are told that an enquiry is going on, note the date and ask for the name and rank of the officer handling it.

What to do if the police refuse: step by step

Step 1: Keep a written record at the police station

• Give a written complaint and ask for a receipt or a stamped copy (a "diary number").
• Note the date, time, the name and designation of the officer you met, and what you were told.
• Keep copies of all supporting material: screenshots, bank statements, medical papers, photographs, names of witnesses.

This record matters, because every later remedy depends on showing that you approached the police and they did not act.

Step 2: Send the complaint to the Superintendent of Police / Commissioner

Under Section 173(4) BNSS (formerly Section 154(3) CrPC), if the officer in charge refuses to record the information, you can send the substance of it in writing and by post to the Superintendent of Police. In Gurugram, which has a police commissionerate, this means the Commissioner of Police or the Deputy Commissioner of Police for the area. If satisfied that a cognizable offence is disclosed, the senior officer can investigate personally or direct a subordinate to do so.

Send it by registered or speed post and keep the receipt and tracking record. Many people also submit the same complaint online through the state police's citizen services portal and keep the acknowledgement.

Step 3: Apply to the Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS

If the police still do not act, you can file an application before the Judicial Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS (formerly Section 156(3) CrPC), asking the court to direct the police to register an FIR and investigate. The BNSS has added important safeguards:

• The application must be made after you have approached the Superintendent of Police under Section 173(4), so the postal complaint in Step 2 is important.
• The application must be supported by an affidavit.
• The Magistrate may make such enquiry as considered necessary and must consider the submissions made by the police officer before passing an order.

Alternatively, depending on the facts, a person can file a private complaint directly before the Magistrate, who then records statements and decides whether to summon the accused. Which route is better depends on whether police investigation (for example, collecting bank records or CCTV footage) is really needed.

Step 4: The High Court, in limited cases

The Punjab and Haryana High Court can be approached in a writ petition or other proceeding, but courts generally expect people to use the remedies above first. The High Court is usually the right forum only in exceptional situations, such as where the alternatives have clearly failed or there are serious allegations against the police themselves.

Special situations

• Online fraud: Report it immediately on the national helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in, as well as to the police. Speed matters more than anything else in these cases; see our guide on what to do in the first 24 hours after an online fraud.
• Offences against women: The BNSS requires certain information to be recorded by a woman police officer, and provides additional protections for the informant.
• Accountability of the officer: A public servant who fails to record information about certain serious offences, including specified offences against women, can be prosecuted under Section 199 BNS (formerly Section 166A IPC).

Common mistakes to avoid

• Exaggerating facts or adding names without basis in order to "make" the police act. A false complaint can expose you to criminal liability.
• Waiting too long. Delay is often used later to question the truth of a complaint, so explain any delay honestly in writing.
• Relying only on phone calls or oral visits, with nothing on paper.
• Going straight to the Magistrate without first writing to the senior police officer, which can lead to the application being returned.

You can read more about this issue on our page on police not registering an FIR, and about criminal cases generally on our criminal law page.