Pune: After the brutal gang-rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, the office of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) has instructed all police units to register a ‘Zero FIR’ whenever a woman approaches a police station if the complaint does not pertain to their jurisdiction. Zero FIR can be later transferred to the concerned police station as police know better about their jurisdiction.
In Hyderabad, the deceased doctor’s family was allegedly denied registration of FIR at a police station due to jurisdiction issue.
Now as per the order dated December 8 issued by IG (law & order) Milind Bharambe on behalf of the DGP, Maharashtra, “Many complaints have been received by the DGP office and government about non-registration of FIR due to jurisdiction issue. Henceforth, the police station has to register zero FIR if a woman approaches with a complaint and it does not belong to their jurisdiction. The zero FIR should be immediately sent to the concerned police station for registration of the case and further investigation.”
Earlier, an advisory by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had asked the State police to take action against erring police officers for failing to register zero FIR.
“The delay over the determination of the jurisdiction leads to avoidable wastage of time, which impacts the victim and also leads to offenders getting an opportunity to slip from the clutches of the law. It should be clearly instructed that failure to comply with the instruction of registering an FIR on receipt of information about the cognizable offence will invite prosecution of the police officer,” the advisory further stated.
