FIR register back in vogue

The Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) has ordered maintenance of First Information Report (FIR) registers manually at the police stations along with the online record. In a letter issued to the Lahore capital city police officer (CCPO) and all regional, city and district police officers, the IGP directed them that the FIRs entered in the Police Stations Record Management System (PSRMS) in real time should also be recorded manually by the station clerks.

Under the instructions, the moharrar and SHO of each police station will be responsible to maintain manual record of the FIRs. The directives were issued after the Rawalpindi Bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) observed a complication regarding the record of FIRs. It was mentioned in the letter that the court had pointed to Chapter 24 of Police Rules 1934 in a case. Section 24.5 of the rules reads, “The First Information Report register shall be a printed book in form 24.5(1) consisting of 200 pages and shall be completely filled before a new one is commenced.

Cases shall bear annual serial number in each police station for each calendar year. Every four pages of the register shall be numbered the same and shall be written on at the same time by carbon copy.” Under the provision, the original copy of report should be a preserved in the police station for 60 years, while the three other copies should be submitted to the DPO, area magistrate and complainant of the case.

Commenting on the IGP’s instructions, a police officer said it was tantamount to ‘reinventing the wheel’. Punjab Police during past six years had invested substantially in digitalisation of the policing system with an aim to transform culture of police stations. A Police Reforms Committee had come up with the proposal for the computerisation and centralisation of the policing system from record, complaint and human and material resource management to surveillance, accountability and crime fighting measures.

Central computerised control rooms, known as ‘Ops Rooms’, were set up in the IGP office and all RPO and DPO offices, where any entry made in police system was accessible. Public dealing counters connected with internet to the Police Station Record Management System were also set up. Under the system, entries in the registers of police stations, including FIRs, were uploaded instantly to the centralised computer system that could be accessed and monitored by all the senior officers.

Previously, when an FIR was registered, a police constable was deputed to deliver its copies to different offices. In Lahore, at least nine copies were to be delivered to different offices. This consumed time, energy and resources. Presently, all FIRs are entered into the system and corresponding entries into different registers are done electronically.

The supervisory officers can see the status of a specific case and obtain information about recovery, witnesses, sureties, case diaries, victims, accused, challan date and next date of hearing. “So far, over 4.659 million FIRs have been entered into the system.” The police officer said recommendations should be made to amend the laws to facilitate the system upgrade.