The nature of the offence determines whether or not an accused gets arrested. Police can arrest the accused instantly in a cognizable offence FIR, but they do not have the same power in a non-cognizable offence FIR.
Sections 154 and 155 r/w Section 2 of the Cr. P.C., go into great depth about this. Any person can file a first information report (FIR) in response to a crime. It is not, however, the final stage or deceleration of punishment.
According to Indian law, filing an FIR is the first action a victim can do to seek justice. Only if the charges against the accused are proven in court will the accused be punished.
Furthermore, after filing an FIR, the offender is not required to be arrested immediately. The Punjab & Haryana High Court stated in the case of Hitesh Bhardwaj v. the State of Punjab and Ors. that an arrest cannot be made solely based on an FIR.
Even if the complaint discloses a cognizable offence, the magistrate must be notified under section 157 (1) Cr.P.C. The accusation of offence cannot be considered an arrest.
This is what the court said in the preceding case, but in general, if an FIR is filed against a major crime such as rape, murder, kidnapping, theft, dowry death, and so on cognizable offence, the police have the power to arrest the accused.
But in forgery, cheating, defamation, and other non-cognizable offences, the police have no right to arrest the offender promptly. Firstly, the police will have to file a criminal complaint against the defendant.
Following a magistrate's order, police conduct an initial investigation and file a charge sheet against the offender, which is followed by a trial.
The charge sheet must be handed to the magistrate, who can issue a warrant for the accused's arrest if the magistrate considers the accused guilty.
Facts about the FIR:
· Under section 154 police are obliged to register the FIR after receiving the information.
· FIR can be registered in oral or written form.
· You can approach the magistrate under section 200 r/w 156(3) of the Cr.P.C. if the police refused to file your FIR.
· You can get a copy of your FIR free of cost.
· If a woman files a case against an accused under sections 326-A, 326-B, 354, 354-A to 354-D, 376, 376-A to 376-E or 509 IPC the case must be registered solely by a women officer.