Police Refusing to Register Your FIR? Remedies Under Sections 173 and 175(3) BNSS

What can I do if the police refuse to register my FIR?

Go up the ladder, in writing. The BNSS sets out a sequence: the officer in charge of the police station must register information about a cognizable offence; if he refuses, you send the substance of the information to the Superintendent of Police (in Delhi and the NCR commissionerates, the Deputy Commissioner of Police) under Section 173(4); if that does not produce an FIR or an investigation, you apply to the magistrate under Section 175(3), who can direct the police to register and investigate.

The ladder matters because the magistrate will ask whether you used the earlier steps. Under the BNSS, the application under Section 175(3) must be supported by an affidavit and must be based on an application already made to the SP under Section 173(4). Skipping the DCP and going straight to court usually means the application is returned or dismissed.

There is also a parallel route. Instead of asking the court to send the police to investigate, you can file a complaint case under Section 223 BNSS, in which the magistrate examines you and your witnesses and decides whether to summon the accused. Which route suits you depends on how much evidence you already hold and whether police powers (search, seizure, arrest, call records) are needed.

The provisions behind each remedy

Can the police legally refuse to register an FIR?

For a cognizable offence, no, with two qualifications. First, for offences punishable with three to seven years, the police may hold a preliminary enquiry for up to 14 days with a DSP's approval before deciding whether to register. Second, in the categories identified in Lalita Kumari, a limited preliminary inquiry to see whether a cognizable offence is disclosed at all remains possible. Outside these, an officer who refuses to register is not exercising a discretion; he is breaching a duty.

For a non-cognizable offence, the police cannot register an FIR and investigate on their own. Under Section 174 BNSS the officer enters the substance of the information in a register and refers you to the magistrate. Many minor quarrels, simple hurt and some defamation-type complaints fall here. Being sent to the magistrate in such cases is not a refusal; it is the law.

Whether an offence is cognizable is set out in the First Schedule to the BNSS. A good rule of thumb: offences punishable with three years or more are generally cognizable, but there are exceptions, so check the schedule against the sections you expect.

What is a preliminary enquiry, and how long can it go on?

A preliminary enquiry under Section 173(3) is a short check, not a full investigation. The officer may speak to you, look at your documents, and perhaps contact the other side, to decide whether there is a prima facie case. The law fixes 14 days for it, and it needs prior permission from an officer of DSP rank or above. Offences punishable with seven years or more, such as rape, attempt to murder and serious cheating, are outside this provision and must be registered straight away.

In practice, "enquiry is going on" is the commonest way a complaint is parked. If more than 14 days have passed since the DSP's approval, or if no one can tell you whether approval was even taken, write to the SHO and the DCP asking for the outcome of the enquiry and the reasons if no FIR is registered. Quote the date of your complaint. That letter becomes the record you need for Section 173(4) and Section 175(3).

A preliminary enquiry is not a licence to decide who is right. If your information shows a cognizable offence and a prima facie case, the enquiry should end in registration, even if the other side denies everything. The denial is for investigation and trial.

The escalation ladder at a glance

Step by step: from refusal to a court order

1. Give a written complaint at the station

   Write the facts in order: what happened, when, where, who did it, what you lost, who saw it. Sign it, date it and give it to the duty officer. Ask for a receiving on your copy with the station stamp and diary number.

2. Note the refusal

   If the officer refuses, record the date, time, the officer's name and what was said. If you are told an enquiry will be held, ask under which provision and when it will end.

3. Write to the DCP under Section 173(4)

   Send the substance of the information to the DCP by registered post, with a copy by email. Attach your original complaint and the station receiving. Say clearly that the station did not register an FIR.

4. Wait a reasonable time and follow up

   Give the DCP two to three weeks. If you are called, attend with your documents. If nothing happens, send one reminder and keep the postal receipt and tracking.

5. Prepare the Section 175(3) application

   Draft an application to the magistrate setting out the offence, the refusal and the Section 173(4) complaint, with an affidavit verifying the facts. Attach all documents and postal proofs.

6. Hearing before the magistrate

   The magistrate may call for a report from the police and hear the officer's submission. If satisfied that a cognizable offence is disclosed and investigation is needed, the magistrate directs registration and investigation.

7. Follow the FIR

   Once the FIR is registered, get a copy, meet the IO, and hand over documents and witness details. Track progress as you would any FIR.

Writing to the DCP or SP under Section 173(4)

The letter to the DCP is short and factual. Address it to the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the district where the police station is located (in Delhi, each police district has its own DCP; in Noida and Ghaziabad, the zonal DCP under the commissionerate). Give the date and station where you first reported, the diary number if any, and the substance of the offence in a few paragraphs. State the sections you believe apply, but do not let a wrong section number distract from the facts.

Send it by registered post or speed post, because Section 173(4) speaks of sending it by post, and keep the receipt and the delivery record. Send an email copy to the DCP's official address too. If you hand-deliver a copy at the DCP office, get a receiving stamp. These postal and delivery proofs are what the magistrate will look for.

When Advocate B.K. Singh drafts a Section 173(4) letter, the first thing he checks is whether the letter could be read on its own by someone who knows nothing about the dispute. A DCP's office handles many letters a day; one that states the offence, the date and the refusal in the first paragraph gets acted on far more often than one that starts with the history of a ten-year family quarrel.

Applying to the magistrate under Section 175(3)

The application under Section 175(3) is filed before the magistrate who has jurisdiction over the police station: in Delhi, the Chief Judicial Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the district court complex concerned (the courts once called Metropolitan Magistrates) (Tis Hazari, Saket, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka or Rouse Avenue); in Noida, the court at Surajpur; in Ghaziabad, the district court. The application states the offence, the refusal and the complaint to the DCP, and asks for a direction to register an FIR and investigate.

The affidavit requirement is serious. It reflects the Supreme Court's concern, expressed in cases on the old Section 156(3), that such applications were being filed casually to harass people. The affidavit should verify the facts you personally know and identify the documents you rely on. A false affidavit exposes you to prosecution.

The magistrate may simply call for a status report from the police, hear the officer and then decide. If the police report says an FIR has since been registered, the application is disposed of. If it says no cognizable offence is made out, you can respond. The magistrate is not bound by the police view, but will ask why police investigation, rather than your own evidence, is needed.

Documents for a Section 175(3) application

Ask us for the current format of the application and affidavit; practice differs slightly between district courts.

Section 175(3) or a complaint case under Section 223: which is better?

Choose Section 175(3) when the evidence is in someone else's hands and only the police can get it: CCTV footage, call records, bank records of the accused, a vehicle to be traced, property to be recovered, or an accused who needs to be found. Investigation by the police brings those powers. It also suits complainants who cannot themselves gather and present evidence.

Choose a complaint case under Section 223 when you already hold most of the evidence, such as documents and witnesses, and police investigation would add little. The magistrate records your statement and your witnesses, hears the accused before cognizance under the BNSS, and decides whether to issue process. You keep more control of the case, but you also carry the burden of proving it at every step.

Many applications ask for both in the alternative: a direction under Section 175(3), and if the magistrate is not inclined, treatment of the application as a complaint under Section 223. Magistrates often do this themselves where police investigation does not seem necessary.

When can I go directly to the High Court?

Rarely. The Supreme Court has said in several cases, including Sakiri Vasu v State of UP (2008), that where a person's grievance is that the police are not registering an FIR or not investigating properly, the remedy is to approach the magistrate, not the High Court through a writ petition. The High Court will usually send you back to the statutory route.

There are exceptions. Where the police inaction involves a serious threat to life or liberty, where the accused are police officers or other powerful persons and the local machinery is plainly compromised, or where the case involves a wider public question, the High Court may entertain a petition under Article 226 or Section 528 BNSS. Even then, the petition should show that you tried the DCP route.

Transfer of investigation to another agency, such as the Crime Branch or the CBI, is a separate and much harder request. Courts order it sparingly and only where the existing investigation is shown to be unfair or ineffective.

Offences against women: when refusal is itself a crime

For rape, sexual assault, stalking, voyeurism, acid attack and certain other offences against women listed in Section 199 BNS, a public servant who fails to record information given under Section 173(1) commits an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment of six months to two years and fine. This carries forward Section 166A of the old IPC.

In practice, this provision makes refusal in these cases very rare in Delhi. If it happens, mention the section calmly at the station, then write immediately to the DCP and, if necessary, approach the magistrate. You can also contact the National Commission for Women, which can take up a complaint with the police. Our page on sexual harassment and rape cases explains the procedural protections for the survivor.

Cyber fraud and cheque cases: different routes

Cyber fraud complaints often sit on the national portal as a complaint number without ever becoming an FIR, especially for smaller amounts. That is not always refusal; the police may be acting on the money trail. But if you need an FIR (for an insurance claim, for the bank, or because the fraud is ongoing), follow up at the cyber police station of your district with your acknowledgement number and ask for registration, then use the same ladder if they refuse. See the cyber crime practice page for more.

A bounced cheque is a different matter entirely. Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is prosecuted through a complaint filed by the payee in court, not through an FIR. If the police turn you away on a bounced cheque, they are right. Read the 30-day deadline for a cheque bounce legal notice instead.

When the police are right not to register

Not every refusal is wrong. A large share of complaints that police decline are, on their own facts, civil disputes: unpaid dues under a contract without any deception at the start, a boundary dispute between neighbours, a partnership quarrel over accounts, a tenant who will not vacate. The Supreme Court has warned repeatedly against giving such disputes a criminal colour to pressure the other side. A magistrate will refuse a Section 175(3) application on the same ground.

The test for cheating is whether there was dishonest intention at the time of the promise, not merely a later failure to pay. If your complaint is really about money owed, a civil suit, a summary suit under Order 37 or arbitration may be faster and more effective than a criminal case that ends in a closure report. Honest advice at this stage saves months.

Equally, the fact that a dispute has a civil side does not make it purely civil. Forgery, cheating at the inception, criminal breach of trust and criminal intimidation can exist alongside a contract. The question is what the facts show, not what label the parties use.

Mistakes that weaken a refusal complaint

• No written complaint at the station. Oral visits leave no trace. Always hand over a signed complaint and get a receiving.
• Skipping the DCP. The Section 175(3) application rests on a Section 173(4) complaint. Without it, the court will usually not proceed.
• No proof of posting. Keep the registered post receipt and the tracking printout.
• A long, emotional complaint. Put the offence in the first paragraph. History can follow briefly.
• A careless affidavit. Verify only what you know, and correct dates and amounts before signing.
• Calling a civil dispute a crime. The magistrate will see through it, and it damages your credibility on the parts that are criminal.
• Waiting too long. Delay in reporting gives the accused an argument and lets evidence like CCTV footage be overwritten.

What to do this week if your FIR is not registered

• Write a signed, dated complaint with the facts in order and hand it in at the station; get a receiving.
• Note the officer's name and what was said if registration is refused.
• Ask in writing whether a preliminary enquiry is being held, with whose approval, and when it ends.
• Send the substance of the complaint to the DCP by registered post and email; keep the proofs.
• Collect documents, screenshots, medical papers and witness details in one file.
• If nothing happens in about three weeks, prepare the Section 175(3) application with an affidavit.
• Ask yourself honestly whether the dispute is civil, and consider the civil remedy in parallel.

Getting the paperwork right

The remedies for police refusal work, but they work on paper: the complaint with its receiving, the letter to the DCP with its postal proof, and an affidavit that tells a clear story. Most failed applications fail because one of these is missing or muddled, not because the magistrate disbelieved the complainant.

If the police have not registered your complaint and you want an advocate to check the papers and draft the next step, the office of Advocate B.K. Singh at Dwarka and Vaishali handles Section 175(3) applications and complaint cases before the Delhi and NCR courts. You can send details through the online enquiry form, or read about the firm's practice before Delhi's police stations and criminal courts. Once the FIR is registered, our post on what happens after an FIR is registered explains the other side's next steps, which helps you anticipate them.