Made under: BNSS s.173(4) (CrPC s.154(3))
Complaint to the Superintendent of Police under s.173(4) BNSS (s.154(3) CrPC) — the step people skip
Fill in the blanks
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Exactly as it appears on your Aadhaar or ID.
Write it in the order it happened. Do not guess at anything you cannot remember.
The day you handed the written complaint to the police station or the bank.
The document
To,
The Superintendent of Police / Senior Superintendent of Police
________________
(By registered post — the date of dispatch has to be on record)
Subject: Refusal of the Station House Officer, Police Station ________________, to register an FIR — complaint under Section 173(4) BNSS [s.154(3) CrPC].
Made under: Section 173(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 [formerly Section 154(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973].
Sir,
1. I am ________________, resident of ________________, mobile ________________.
2. On ________________ the following happened to me, and it discloses a cognizable offence:
________________
3. On ________________ I gave written information to the same effect to the Station House Officer, Police Station ________________. A copy of it is annexed to this complaint.
4. To date no First Information Report has been registered on that information, and no copy has been given to me under Section 173(2) BNSS [s.154(2) CrPC].
5. Section 173(4) BNSS [s.154(3) CrPC] provides that any person aggrieved by a refusal on the part of an officer in charge of a police station to record the information may send the substance of such information, in writing and by post, to the Superintendent of Police concerned; and the Superintendent of Police, if satisfied that such information discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, shall either investigate the case himself or direct an investigation to be made by any police officer subordinate to him.
6. In Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh, (2014) 2 SCC 1, the Supreme Court held that registration of an FIR is mandatory under Section 154 CrPC [now Section 173 BNSS] if the information discloses a cognizable offence. The BNSS keeps that rule, with one exception: for offences punishable with three to seven years, a preliminary enquiry of up to fourteen days may be held with the permission of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Section 173(3) BNSS).
I therefore request that an FIR be registered on the above information, that an investigation be directed, and that I be informed in writing of the action taken.
Yours faithfully,
________________
________________
Place: ________________
Date: ________________
Enclosures: as per the list attached.What to attach
- A copy of the written complaint given to the SHO, with its receipt or diary number.
- The registered-post receipt. BNSS s.173(4) (CrPC s.154(3)) says 'in writing and by post' — a complaint handed over in person leaves no date on record.
- The evidence relied on: screenshots, bank statements, medical papers — whatever applies.
- A photocopy of your ID.
- Keep a photocopy of the whole set. A later BNSS s.175(3) (CrPC s.156(3)) application stands or falls on it.