FALLACIES OF A DELAYED FIRST INFORMATION REPORT (FIR)
The law does not lay down a strict limitation or timeline to lodge an FIR, however an inordinate delay of FIR without any plausible reasons and sufficient causes would be very prejudicial towards the outcome of the case. A belated FIR that involves grave offence ought to be lodged as soon as instances or dispute arise, but does the law permit the validity of a delayed FIR? Prompt and early reporting of the occurrence or incident by the informant paves a path towards the credibility of the incident and in case of any inordinate delay to report the same, a sufficient and valid reason explaining the delay would not make the complainant’s case improbable but failure to provide such sufficient reasons may lead to a presumption that the incident never happened or was an after thought. The Supreme Court in Sahib Singh v. State of Haryana (1997) 7 SCC 231 held that ‘deliberate delay in lodging the complaint is always fatal’ Reiterating the same, Chauhan J while deciding an appeal that fa...