With over 70 e-FIR registered so far, Jammu and Kashmir has become part of the national push for digital criminal justice. e-FIR is a new addition of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) to criminal justice system that allows informants or victim to register complaint online without visiting a police station. Such FIRs can be filed for cognizable offences through electronic means. It promotes access to justice. To raise awareness among the general public, some key questions related to e-FIR are answered below:
What is e-FIR?
It is an electronic form of First Information Report. It is different from the traditional form of FIR in the sense that the informant/victim need not to go to police station for the reporting of crime. It can be reported to police through any written, verbal, pictorial information or video content transferred or transmitted through electronic mode by means of an electronic device.
In which cases the e-FIR can be filed?
e-FIR can be filed only in cognizable offences. Cognizable offences are those offences in which the police have the authority to arrest the accused without a warrant. Such offences include rape, assault or use of force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, sexual harassment, stalking, dowry death, kidnapping, murder, attempt to murder, organised crime, grievous hurt, offences against state, theft, snatching, extortion, robbery, criminal breach of trust, criminal trespass, house trespass, and abduction. This list is not exhaustive.
How can you register e-FIR?
e-FIR can be registered through any electronic medium, such as registered SMS services including WhatsApp, registered email, Citizen Service Centre. For SMS including WhatsApp and email, one can communicate the information on registered phone numbers and email ids of the concerned police station. For Citizen Service Centre, one need to visit https://www.jkpoliceeservices.gov.in/login.aspx and sign up by giving some personal details. Thereafter, s/he can sign in and file the complaint by giving the information related to cognizable offence.
What will you have to do after registering e-FIR?
The informant will get the acknowledgement receipt of such information. Further, s/he is required to visit to the police station to sign the information within three days. Thereafter, e-FIR will be converted to FIR.
Is it mandatory to visit police station after registering e-FIR?
It is mandatory for the informant or victim to visit the concerned police station within three days. However, as per the SOP issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, in situations where the informant or victim cannot identify themselves or visit the police station within three days due to their vulnerable circumstances or any other valid reason, the police should follow the special procedure given by Police Headquarters.
Women are likely to benefit the most from this process, as offences like rape, harassment, and domestic violence often involves deep emotional, psychological, and physical distress for the victim, which otherwise makes it a difficult for them to report the crime at a police station.
With the introduction of e-FIR, anyone can report a cognizable offence from anywhere without the need to visit a police station, ensuring greater accessibility, privacy, and convenience for victims. However, it is recommended that the mandatory requirement to visit the police station within three days should be relaxed for offences related women. If a female victim is unable to visit the police station within three days to sign the e-FIR, a female police officer should visit or contact her and obtain her signature at a place and time convenient to her.
The implementation of e-FIR under the BNSS, and its rollout in Jammu & Kashmir, is not just a technical reform—it is a democratic leap forward, ensuring that justice is not a privilege, but a right available at a click.
(The author is an LL.M student at Indian Law Institute, New Delhi and can be reached at [email protected]
