Zero FIR is progressive, but it is not enough

Why in the News

The Zero First Information Report (Zero FIR), hailed as one of the new criminal laws’ most progressive provisions, lets a woman report an offence at any police station. Its protection ends once the case moves to the station with jurisdiction, as a 15-year-old survivor’s repeated journeys for every later procedure show.

What is a Zero FIR, and why was it introduced?

1. What it is: Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 lets a woman file an FIR, the record opening a criminal case, at any station, like posting a letter anywhere.
2. How it moves: The receiving station numbers it zero and transfers it to the station with jurisdiction. That station re-registers it and investigates.
3. Why it was introduced: The Justice Verma Committee (2013), set up after the December 2012 gang rape, first recommended Zero FIRs in cases of sexual violence.
4. Enforcement on paper: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued advisories that refusing to register an FIR will bring prosecution and disciplinary action against the police officer.
5. The takeaway: The provision removes jurisdiction as a barrier to reporting, but only at the moment of reporting.

What did one survivor face after filing a Zero FIR?

1. The survivor: Mitra (name changed), a 15-year-old orphan from one of Mumbai’s poorest slums, was taken by a friend to Raigad district. There she was raped and beaten.
2. Forced travel: The case moved to Raigad the next day. Police made her travel there, four hours each way, ignoring her pregnancy, her motion sickness and her elder brother’s lost wages.
3. Repeated procedures: She travelled repeatedly at her own cost for spot identification, the panchnama (police record of the scene), a medical examination, her statement before a magistrate and the Child Welfare Committee.
4. Denied local care: Police refused a medical termination of pregnancy at a government hospital near her home. She spent almost 20 days in a Raigad hospital, never told who her support person was.
5. Compensation not paid: Her interim victim compensation under Maharashtra’s scheme, due within seven days, has not been granted.

Why does the protection end at registration?

1. Police resistance: Police still resist filing Zero FIRs, and registering one takes painful persuasion and repeated reminders of the law.
2. Procedure follows jurisdiction: After transfer, every procedure happens in the district with jurisdiction, so the survivor, not the system, bears the distance.
3. Coercion of complainants: Police threatened Mitra’s supporters with severe action if they did not cooperate.
4. Burden on the family: For the past one and a half months, police have repeatedly summoned her elder brother, the family’s breadwinner, to the Raigad police station and court.

Challenges

1. Travel cost on survivors: No rule requires the state to pay for a survivor’s repeated journeys to a distant district.
2. Missed compensation deadlines: The seven-day window for interim compensation goes unenforced.
3. Child safeguards skipped: A child survivor can go through procedures without knowing her support person.
4. Deterrence to reporting: When reporting rape costs a family its income, safety and stability, families choose silence.

Way Forward

1. Procedures near home: In a Zero FIR case, arrange the medical examination, magistrate statement, Child Welfare Committee production and shelter placement near the survivor’s residence.
2. State-paid transport: Where a survivor must go to another district, the state should provide transport for her and a family member or support person.
3. Enforceable directions: The state should issue clear, enforceable directions so that survivors receive support at their doorstep.
4. Time-bound compensation: Release interim victim compensation within the seven-day window.

Conclusion

Zero FIR has made reporting easier but leaves the survivor to carry the cost of every step that follows. Whether States issue enforceable directions for doorstep procedures will decide if survivors keep reporting or choose silence.

About FIR Registration under the BNSS

1. Cognizable offences only: An FIR, a Zero FIR included, lies only for a cognizable offence, one police may investigate without a magistrate’s order. A non-cognizable complaint gets only a General Diary entry.
2. Preliminary enquiry: For offences punishable with three years or more but less than seven, the officer in charge may first hold a preliminary enquiry, with a Deputy Superintendent of Police’s permission.
3. e-FIR: Information may be given electronically, but this is optional, not mandatory.
4. Women victims: For offences against women, especially rape, the BNSS requires a woman officer to record the statement at the victim’s residence or a convenient place.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026] Which of the following statements about a Zero First Information Report (Zero FIR) under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 is/are correct? 1. A Zero FIR can be lodged at a police station, even though the place of commission of a cognizable/non-cognizable offence is outside the territorial jurisdiction of that police station. 2. The Officer-in-Charge of the police station where a Zero FIR has been lodged may, with the permission of the competent authority, initiate a preliminary enquiry. 3. Under Zero FIR, it is obligatory for the informant to furnish information electronically. Select the answer using the code given below: (a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 only (d) 2 only ANSWER: D”