FIR reforms

In theory, the law is supposed to provide certain protections to defendants to ensure their rights are not being violated. They cannot be held indefinitely without charge, and they must have the right to legal representation and to a fair and speedy trial. In practice, though, these inviolable rights are dependent on the whims of individual law-enforcement officials. The process of registering and executing an FIR is cumbersome and, depending on who is filing the FIR, can lead to the accused being essentially treated as guilty. The government is now trying to prevent the abuse of the unwieldy FIR system by introducing a series of reforms. A draft law prepared by the law ministry would punish both the police and complainants for registering false FIRs. The police will also be compelled to immediately inform the accused of the reasons for their arrest and give them the opportunity to inform their families and be given access to legal representation of their choice. The draft laws also uphold the principle of client-attorney privilege. There is nothing objectionable about any of these proposed reforms. If anything, they simply restate the principles of common law – although adding punitive punishments for those who violate it should give the law added teeth.

The only problem is the assumption the law seems to make that the only drawback to the FIR registration system is that too many false reports are filed and the accused are often denied their rights. While both are real problems, the abuses in the registration of cases are the same as those which plague the rest of the justice system. We have a tiered system of justice where the rich and politically-connected do not play by the same rules as everyone else. This is why the police often point-blank refuse to register FIRs when those nominated are part of the elite. Those without connections have to resort to pay bribes to register complaints because some in the police are not interested in cases brought by the general public. The true reform that is needed is to make equal access to the law a reality. Laws that exist on paper are well and good but in the end it comes down to enforcement. Just consider how scared the police are to register FIRs when the victims are religious minorities whose places of worship have been attacked. The law as it is enforced tends to give immunity to the privileged and treats everyone else as second-class citizens.