Complete FIR Law Table (30 Landmark Judgments)

Posted on March 5, 2026 by Admin

Complete FIR Law Table (30 Landmark Judgments)

No	Legal Issue	Case Law	Court	Principle / Ratio
1	Mandatory registration of FIR	Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Police must register FIR if cognizable offence is disclosed.
2	Preliminary inquiry before FIR	Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Limited preliminary inquiry allowed in special categories like matrimonial disputes, corruption etc.
3	Second FIR barred	T.T. Antony v. State of Kerala	Supreme Court	Second FIR for same incident and same offence is not permissible.
4	Counter FIR permissible	Upkar Singh v. Ved Prakash	Supreme Court	Opposite party can lodge a counter FIR regarding same incident.
5	Delay in FIR not fatal	State of Himachal Pradesh v. Gian Chand	Supreme Court	Delay must be explained; not automatically fatal to prosecution.
6	FIR not encyclopedia	State of Andhra Pradesh v. Punati Ramulu	Supreme Court	FIR need not contain all details of the offence.
7	FIR cannot be treated as substantive evidence	Hasib v. State of Bihar	Supreme Court	FIR can only corroborate or contradict maker.
8	Police can add sections later	Sureshkumar Taraji Marwadi v. State of Gujarat	Gujarat High Court	Investigating officer can add offences during investigation.
9	Deletion of offences allowed	Vinubhai Haribhai Malaviya v. State of Gujarat	Supreme Court	Investigation may modify sections based on evidence.
10	Further investigation allowed	Vinay Tyagi v. Irshad Ali	Supreme Court	Police may conduct further investigation even after charge sheet.
11	Magistrate can order further investigation	Vinubhai Haribhai Malaviya v. State of Gujarat	Supreme Court	Magistrate has power under Section 173(8) CrPC.
12	FIR against unknown persons valid	Ramesh Baburao Devaskar v. State of Maharashtra	Supreme Court	FIR may be lodged even if accused is not known.
13	Anonymous complaint cannot be FIR	State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal	Supreme Court	Complaint must disclose cognizable offence.
14	Grounds for quashing FIR	State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal	Supreme Court	Seven categories laid down for quashing criminal proceedings.
15	FIR must disclose cognizable offence	Ramesh Kumari v. State (NCT of Delhi)	Supreme Court	Police bound to register FIR if offence disclosed.
16	Magistrate power to order FIR	Sakiri Vasu v. State of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Magistrate can direct registration under Section 156(3).
17	Alternative remedy before High Court	Sakiri Vasu v. State of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Aggrieved person should approach Magistrate before High Court.
18	FIR cannot be quashed at investigation stage easily	Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra	Supreme Court	Courts should not interfere in investigation normally.
19	Arrest safeguards	D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal	Supreme Court	Mandatory guidelines for arrest and detention.
20	Multiple FIRs for different offences allowed	Babubhai v. State of Gujarat	Supreme Court	Separate FIR possible if incidents are distinct.
21	FIR can be lodged by any person	A.R. Antulay v. Ramdas Sriniwas Nayak	Supreme Court	Anyone aware of offence can inform police.
22	FIR by accused possible	Nathi Lal v. State of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Cross cases should be tried together.
23	FIR is not proof of guilt	Damodar Prasad v. State of Maharashtra	Supreme Court	FIR only initiates investigation.
24	FIR must be read as whole	State of Karnataka v. M. Devendrappa	Supreme Court	FIR should not be dissected.
25	Telephonic message not always FIR	Patai v. State of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Cryptic message not treated as FIR.
26	Delay in lodging FIR	Thulia Kali v. State of Tamil Nadu	Supreme Court	Unexplained delay weakens prosecution.
27	FIR can be used for contradiction	Damodar Prasad v. State of Maharashtra	Supreme Court	Under Evidence Act provisions.
28	FIR not substantive evidence	Hasib v. State of Bihar	Supreme Court	Only corroborative value.
29	Police must record information faithfully	Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh	Supreme Court	Police cannot refuse registration arbitrarily.
30	FIR quashing power	State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal	Supreme Court	High Court power under Section 482 CrPC.

🧠 Magistrate Viva Quick Memory (10 One-Line Rules)

1️⃣ FIR is only the starting point of investigation.
2️⃣ Police must register FIR if cognizable offence appears.
3️⃣ Second FIR for same incident is barred.
4️⃣ Counter FIR by opposite party is permissible.
5️⃣ FIR is not substantive evidence.
6️⃣ Police may add or delete offences during investigation.
7️⃣ Magistrate can order FIR registration under Section 156(3).
8️⃣ Further investigation can be conducted even after charge sheet.
9️⃣ High Court should rarely quash FIR during investigation.
🔟 Delay in FIR is not fatal if properly explained.

⚖ Practical Judicial Use in Court Orders

Magistrates often use this reasoning:

“It is well settled that the FIR is not an encyclopedia of the prosecution case and the investigation agency is empowered to add appropriate sections of law as the investigation progresses.”

Cases supporting this reasoning: