Police refused your FIR? Learn how to use Section 175(4) of the BNSS to get a Magistrate to order an investigation and hold the station accountable.
You’ve been scammed of ₹50,000 in a fake internship deal, or perhaps someone has been stalking you online. You go to the local thana with screenshots, bank statements, and a clear head. But the officer on duty barely looks up. "This is a civil matter, beta," they say, or worse, "Go home and let your parents handle it." You know a crime was committed, but the police are gatekeeping justice. When the system stalls at the station gate, you don't have to beg for an FIR. You have a legal "override" button. By using Section 175(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), you can take your case directly to a Magistrate and force the police to investigate.
Until July 2024, if the police refused an FIR, you went to court under Section 156(3) of the CrPC. Today, that power lives under Section 175(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The law is clear: the police do not have the "discretion" to refuse an FIR if your complaint discloses a "cognizable offence" (serious crimes like theft, assault, or fraud where they can arrest without a warrant).
Under Section 173 of the BNSS, every piece of information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence must be recorded. If the officer in charge (the SHO) refuses, you move to Section 175(3) of the BNSS, which allows you to send your complaint in writing to the Superintendent of Police (SP) or the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
If the SP also fails to act, Section 175(4) kicks in. It empowers a Magistrate to check if the police followed the rules. If the Magistrate is satisfied that a cognizable offence is made out, they can order the police to register the FIR and investigate.
There is a crucial Supreme Court precedent you must know: Lalita Kumari vs. Govt. of U.P. (2014). The Court held that registration of an FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the CrPC (now Section 173 BNSS) if the information discloses a cognizable offence. The police cannot conduct a "preliminary inquiry" to check the truth of the claim before filing the FIR, except in very specific cases like matrimonial disputes or commercial frauds, and even then, they have a strict timeline (usually 14 days under BNSS Section 173(3)).
Crucially, the BNSS has added a procedural hurdle: you must show the Magistrate that you have already approached the SP/DCP under Section 175(3) before filing your application in court. You cannot jump straight to the Magistrate anymore.
Go to the police station and hand over your written complaint. Do not just talk to them; give it in writing. If they refuse to register the FIR, ask for a "General Diary" (GD) entry number. Every visit and every refusal should be documented. If they won't even take the paper, don't argue. Leave calmly.
This is the most important "paper trail" step. Write a letter to the SP or DCP of your district. State clearly that you went to the thana on [Date] at [Time] and the SHO refused to register your FIR. Attach the original complaint.
The BNSS implies that the police should have a reasonable window to act. While the law doesn't explicitly state a "cooling period" before the Magistrate can act, most courts expect you to wait at least 15 days to see if the SP orders an investigation. Use this time to read up on How to file an FIR (and what to do if police refuse) to ensure your initial complaint was legally sound.
If the SP remains silent, you need to approach the Judicial Magistrate (usually the Metropolitan Magistrate in cities or Judicial Magistrate First Class in districts) who has jurisdiction over the area where the crime happened.
You can file this yourself (Party-in-Person), but it is highly recommended to engage a lawyer or a legal aid volunteer. If you cannot afford one, visit the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in the court complex for free help.
On the day of the hearing, the Magistrate will listen to your lawyer. They might not order the FIR immediately. Instead, they often call for an Action Taken Report (ATR) from the police station. The Magistrate asks the police: "Why hasn't an FIR been filed?"
For more on how to hold officials accountable, check out our MGNREGA vigilance toolkit or learn how to File an RTI online to track your complaint's progress.
The jump from a police station to a courtroom isn't always a smooth slide. Even with the law on your side, the "system" has built-in friction. Here is where your 175(4) application is most likely to hit a wall and how to climb over it.
1. The "Civil Nature" Trap This is the most common reason Magistrates reject applications. If your case involves money (like a freelance payment default or a property dispute), the police will tell the court, "This is a civil matter, no crime here."
2. The Missing Paper Trail (The "Priyanka Srivastava" Rule) The Supreme Court in Priyanka Srivastava vs. State of UP (2015) made it mandatory to file an affidavit with your application. If you just hand over a complaint without a sworn statement saying "everything here is true," the Magistrate will throw it out.
3. The "Preliminary Inquiry" Delay Under Section 173(3) of the BNSS, for crimes punishable by 3–7 years, the police can now legally take 14 days to conduct a "preliminary inquiry" before filing an FIR. They might use this to keep you in limbo.
4. The Postal Receipt Ghosting If your Speed Post receipt to the SP is blurry or the tracking says "Item Dispatched" but not "Delivered," the court might claim you haven't fulfilled the Section 175(3) requirement.
Copy, fill in the [highlighted] bits, and send.
Send this via Registered Post AD or Speed Post.
To, The Superintendent of Police / DCP, [District/Zone Name], [City, State].
Subject: Information regarding commission of cognizable offence under Section 175(3) of BNSS.
Sir/Ma'am,
I am writing to inform you that on [Date], I approached the SHO of [Name of Police Station] to report a cognizable offence involving [briefly mention the crime, e.g., theft of ₹1 lakh / physical assault].
The SHO refused to register an FIR (Section 173 BNSS). I am now approaching your office as per Section 175(3) of the BNSS.
Brief Facts: [3-4 lines on what happened]. Accused Details: [Name/Phone/Address if known].
I request you to either investigate the matter yourself or direct the registration of an FIR and an investigation by the concerned police station.
Sincerely, [Your Name & Phone Number] [Date]
"Your Honour, this is an application under Section 175(4) of the BNSS. The applicant is a victim of [Name of Crime]. We have complied with the mandatory procedural requirements:
Include this in your court affidavit: "I solemnly affirm that the contents of the accompanying application under Section 175(4) BNSS are true to my knowledge. I further state that I have exhausted the remedies under Section 173 and Section 175(3) of the BNSS as evidenced by the attached postal receipts. No other application for the same cause of action is pending before any other court."
Technically, you can represent yourself (*party-in-person*), but it is highly recommended to hire a junior lawyer or a criminal law practitioner. The procedures in a Magistrate’s court are rigid, and a small technical error in your affidavit or the way you "pray" for relief can lead to dismissal. A junior lawyer might charge between ₹5,000 to ₹15,000 for this specific filing.
Once you file, the Magistrate usually calls for a "Status Report" or "Action Taken Report" (ATR) from the police. The police are typically given 1–2 weeks to respond. If the ATR is unsatisfactory, the Magistrate can order the FIR immediately. Total timeline: 3 weeks to 2 months.
The court fee is nominal—usually under ₹100 in the form of court fee stamps. The main costs are your lawyer's fee, notary charges for the affidavit (approx. ₹100–₹300), and photocopying. It is much cheaper than the "informal" costs people often pay to get things done.
Yes. If the Magistrate feels the matter is purely civil or that there isn't enough evidence of a crime, they can reject it. However, they can also treat your application as a "Complaint Case" under Section 223 BNSS. This means the Magistrate will hear your evidence personally instead of asking the police to investigate.
They do the same thing, but 175(4) is the "new version" effective from July 1, 2024. The main difference is that the BNSS version is more explicit about the sequence: you *must* go to the SP (Section 175(3)) first. Under the old CrPC, this was a practice established by judgments; now it is written directly into the code.
Police officers generally don't like being "ordered" by a court because it goes on their record that they failed to do their duty. However, once a Magistrate orders an FIR, the police are legally protected—they can tell their seniors "the court ordered it, so we had to file it." It actually takes the "discretion" out of their hands and forces them to work.
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