Can police refuse to lodge FIR on email complaint from abroad? Kerala High Court answers

The Kerala High Court recently held that the police cannot refuse to register a first information report (FIR) merely because a complaint was sent via email from abroad without a signature [YYYY v State of Kerala & ors]. .Justice Kauser Edappagath noted that the introduction of Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) has given statutory recognition to the concept of Zero FIR and therefore, the police are duty bound to register an FIR if a complaint discloses a cognizable offence, even if the complaint is received from outside their jurisdiction or through electronic means."Zero FIR has been introduced with the primary purpose of ensuring that victims can file complaints regardless of jurisdiction. Therefore, the police cannot refuse to register an FIR if a cognizable offence is made out in the complaint, even if the complaint is forwarded from a foreign country. In these circumstances, the rejection of Annexure A7 complaint made by the petitioner on the ground that it was unsigned and sent through e-mail from Australia cannot be justified," the Court stated..The present case arose when the petitioner, currently residing in Australia, had sent a complaint via email in 2020 against her husband, to the Director General of Police (DGP) of Kerala.The DGP forwarded it to the Muttom Police Station. However, the police refused to register a case citing lack of a signature in the complaint sent through email and the petitioner's non-availability in person.Challenging this refusal, the petitioner approached the High Court seeking directions against the police to act on her complaint..The Court clarified that if a complaint disclosed a cognizable offence, then the police are duty bound to register the FIR, even if the complainant is residing abroad or even if the complaint is unsigned.Refusal to register the FIR solely on the basis of formal defects undermines the statutory mandate under the new BNSS, the Court held..Since the original complaint was filed in 2020 and the petitioner expressed her willingness to file a fresh one, the Court disposed of the plea with a direction to the Station House Officer of Muttom Police Station to act on the fresh complaint filed by the petitioner in accordance with Section 173 of the BNSS..The petitioner was represented by Advocates TB Shajimon, Govindu P Renukadevi and Sajeev TP.Senior public prosecutor EC Bineesh appeared for the State..[Read Order]