Section 175(3) BNSS: The Judicial Antidote to Police Inaction
A strategic litigation analysis for navigating police refusal in cognizable offenses.
Executive Legal Summary
Under the Indian criminal justice framework, the refusal by local police to register an FIR is not the end of the legal road. Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)—the statutory successor to Section 156(3) of the CrPC—empowers a Jurisdictional Magistrate to order the police to register an FIR and conduct a thorough investigation. Invoking this jurisdiction requires documented exhaustion of administrative remedies under Section 173 BNSS and a mandatory sworn affidavit.
For corporate entities grappling with employee fraud, or individuals facing serious criminal trespass or cheating, institutional apathy at the police station level can be deeply damaging. When an Investigating Officer (IO) wrongly categorizes a serious cognizable crime as a "civil matter" to avoid paperwork, litigation counsel must escalate the matter judicially.
1. The Procedural Exhaustion Requirement
The Magistrate Court is not the first point of contact for registering an FIR. The BNSS mandates a strict hierarchy of escalation:
| Statutory Section | Authority & Action |
|---|---|
| Section 173(1) BNSS | Submission of written information regarding a cognizable offense to the Station House Officer (SHO). |
| Section 173(4) BNSS | If the SHO refuses, the complaint must be dispatched via Registered Post to the DCP or Superintendent of Police. |
| Section 175(3) BNSS | Institution of a formal application before the Magistrate, attaching proofs of the above two steps. |
2. The Impact of Priyanka Srivastava v. State of U.P.
To curb the filing of frivolous applications aimed at settling personal scores or extracting commercial settlements, the Supreme Court mandated that every application under this section must be accompanied by a sworn affidavit.
This places a tremendous responsibility on litigation counsel. The application must be drafted with precision, clearly elucidating the cognizable offense, the evidence available, and the failure of the executive machinery. Any falsehood in the affidavit exposes the complainant to prosecution under Section 340 CrPC (now Section 379 BNSS) for perjury.
For related strategies on defensive litigation when facing an FIR yourself, review our analysis on FIR Quashing in the High Court Under Section 528 BNSS.
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