ਆਪਣੀ ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀ ਭਰੋ

COMPLAINT FOR REGISTRATION OF A FIRST INFORMATION REPORT UNDER SECTION 173 OF THE BHARATIYA NAGARIK SURAKSHA SANHITA, 2023

To
__________
__________

COPY FORWARDED, ON THE SAME DATE AND BY THE SAME MEANS, TO:
The Station House Officer, __________ — being an officer in charge of a police station for the purposes of section 173(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Sent: __________

Date: __________
Place: __________

SUBJECT: Criminal complaint concerning __________, relating to __________ in the revenue estate of __________, Tehsil __________, District __________, Punjab — request for registration of a First Information Report and for investigation by the NRI Wing

Sir / Madam,

1. WHO I AM

1.1 I am __________, __________ __________. I am __________, and I ordinarily reside at __________, __________.

1.2 My address in India is __________. My passport or Overseas Citizen of India card bears number __________, and a self-attested copy of it is annexed to this complaint.

1.3 I can be reached at __________ and at __________. Because of the difference in time zones I request that email be treated as the primary channel of communication with me, and that nothing be dispatched to my Indian address alone, since that address is not occupied throughout the year.

1.4 I am making this complaint from outside India and I do not propose to travel to Punjab merely in order to lodge it. I request that it be received, registered and acted upon in this form. It is supported by my affidavit, sworn and attested, which is printed after the Schedule below and annexed to it. My statement can be recorded by audio-video electronic means, which section 530 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 expressly permits for the examination of a complainant and of witnesses, and I will make myself available at whatever hour is convenient to the investigating officer.

1. THE PROPERTY

2.1 This complaint concerns __________ situated in the revenue estate of __________, Tehsil __________, District __________, Punjab, fully described in the Schedule at the foot of this complaint ("the Property").

2.2 The Property is mine. I have never sold it, gifted it, exchanged it, relinquished it, mortgaged it, agreed to sell it, or authorised any person to do any of those things on my behalf.

1. HOW I HOLD THE PROPERTY

3.1 I acquired the Property by __________.

3.2 The documents and entries which establish my title are:

__________

3.3 As to possession: __________.

1. WHAT I COMPLAIN OF

4.1 I complain of __________. The property affected is the Property described in the Schedule below.

4.2 The facts are these:

__________

1. HOW I CAME TO KNOW OF IT

5.1 I first came to know of the matters set out above on __________.

5.2 The circumstances in which I came to know of them were:

__________

5.3 I state the date of knowledge plainly because it matters beyond this complaint. Article 59 of the Limitation Act, 1963 allows three years from the date on which the facts entitling a person to have an instrument set aside first become known to him, and Article 65 allows twelve years for a suit for possession founded on title. I put the date on the record from the first day so that there can be no later argument about it.

1. THE PERSONS I ACCUSE

6.1 I name the following persons, with such particulars as I presently have:

__________

6.2 I do not know how many others were concerned in these acts, and I do not name anyone on suspicion. I say only this: on the face of it the acts complained of could not have been carried through by the persons named alone. They required at the least a person who impersonated me, persons who identified that impersonator before the registering officer, and persons who signed as marginal witnesses. I request that the investigation extend to each of them, and to any public servant who assisted, and I ask that nobody be left out on the footing that this is a family matter.

1. THE POSITION ON THE GROUND TODAY

7.1 As matters stand, __________.

1. THE OFFENCES I SAY ARE DISCLOSED

8.1 I am not a lawyer and I do not ask that this list bind the investigating officer, who will apply his own mind to the facts. I set it out so that the complaint is not returned to me for want of a section.

(a) Forgery — section 336 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: making a false document with intent to cause damage or injury, to support a claim or title, or to cause a person to part with property. Where the forgery is committed for the purpose of cheating, section 336(3) provides imprisonment which may extend to seven years, and fine, and it is that sub-section on which I rely.

(b) Forgery of a valuable security or of a will — section 338. A power of attorney authorising a sale, a sale deed, a will and a relinquishment deed are each a document by which a legal right is created, transferred, extinguished or released, and the punishment extends to imprisonment for life, or imprisonment which may extend to ten years, and fine.

(c) Forgery of a record of a Court or of a public register — section 337, where the false document was made so as to be entered in the register of a Sub-Registrar or upon the record of rights.

(d) Using a forged document as genuine — section 340(2): whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any document which he knows or has reason to believe to be a forged document is punished in the same manner as if he had forged it. This is the provision that reaches the person who presented the instrument at the registration counter and the person who used it to obtain a mutation.

(e) Possession of a forged document of the kind described in sections 337 and 338, intending that it be used as genuine — section 339.

(f) Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property — section 318(4), punishable with imprisonment which may extend to seven years, and fine.

(g) Criminal breach of trust — section 316, where the person accused held the Property, or its title papers, on my behalf or in a fiduciary capacity.

(h) Criminal trespass and house-trespass — sections 329(3) and 329(4), where entry was made upon the Property with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy.

(i) Criminal intimidation — section 351, where threats were used to keep me, my family or my tenant away from the Property.

(j) Criminal conspiracy — section 61(2) — and liability for acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention — section 3(5).

8.2 I do not say that every offence listed above is cognizable, and I do not need to. I rest the request for registration on the offences at (a) to (f), namely sections 336(3), 337, 338, 340(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, each of which is punishable with imprisonment for seven years or more and is classified as cognizable in the First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Section 173(1) of that Sanhita requires the officer in charge of a police station to record information disclosing the commission of a cognizable offence irrespective of the area in which the offence is committed, and section 173(2) entitles me to a copy of the information as recorded, forthwith and free of cost. Because those offences are punishable with seven years or more, the preliminary-enquiry route which section 173(3) makes available for offences punishable with three years and upwards but less than seven years does not reach them, and registration ought not to be deferred on that footing. The remaining offences at 8.1(g) to (j) are set out for completeness, so that the investigating officer has the whole picture; whatever their classification, they neither add to nor subtract from the duty to register which the offences at (a) to (f) attract.

1. WHY THIS COMPLAINT IS ADDRESSED TO THE NRI WING, AND WHY A COPY GOES TO A STATION HOUSE OFFICER

9.1 I am a Non-Resident Indian and this is precisely the class of case for which the NRI Wing of the Punjab Police was created. The Wing is headed by an Additional Director General of Police at Phase-7, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali), and works through the notified NRI police stations, which have independent jurisdiction over the whole of the State of Punjab, and through five regional offices under officers of the rank of Superintendent of Police. Because that jurisdiction is state-wide, this complaint does not have to be lodged in the district in which the Property lies and cannot properly be returned to me on the ground of territorial jurisdiction.

9.2 The Wing may be reached on 0172-2260042 and 0172-2260043, at adgp.nri.police@punjab.gov.in and complaintcell.nri@punjabpolice.gov.in, and complaints are received online through the Punjab Police public grievance portal at pgd.punjabpolice.gov.in. The Department of NRI Affairs, Government of Punjab, established in 2002, operates a helpline on 1100 (+91-411-1905-1100 from abroad), psnri@punjab.gov.in and WhatsApp 9056009884, and has designated a Nodal Officer for NRIs in every district. I request that this complaint be tagged to the Nodal Officer for the district in which the Property lies, as well as to the investigating officer.

9.3 A copy of this complaint, with the same annexures and the same sworn affidavit, has been delivered on the date of this complaint and by the same means to the Station House Officer, __________, as recorded on the first page. I do that for a reason of law and not out of excess of caution. The duty to record information disclosing a cognizable offence is cast by section 173(1) of the Sanhita on the officer in charge of a police station; a supervisory officer of the Wing is not such an officer. Where this complaint is itself addressed to a Station House Officer, this paragraph records the date on which it was so delivered.

9.4 If, contrary to what I expect, no First Information Report is registered, I will send the substance of this information in writing and by post to the Superintendent of Police concerned under section 173(4) of the Sanhita, and thereafter apply to the Judicial Magistrate under section 175(3), which requires that earlier application and an affidavit in its support — the affidavit annexed to this complaint being sworn for that purpose as well. I set the route out as a statement of what I will do, and not as a threat to any officer.

1. WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE

10.1 Nothing stated in this complaint is false to my knowledge, and I have suppressed no proceeding. What follows is the complete history of the steps already taken by me or on my behalf in this matter.

1. DOCUMENTS ANNEXED, AND WITNESSES

11.1 The following documents are annexed to this complaint, each page self-attested by me:

__________

11.2 I do not hold the registration record of the impugned document and, being outside India, I cannot attend at the counter of the Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar to apply for it myself. I draw attention to one difficulty in obtaining that record privately. A sale deed is registered in Book 1, and section 57(1) and (2) of the Registration Act, 1908 open Books 1 and 2 and the Index to Book 1 to inspection by any person, with certified copies to be given on payment. A power of attorney is registered in Book 4, and section 57(5) restricts inspection of Books 3 and 4, and copies of entries in them, to the persons executing the documents and their agents and representatives and to persons claiming under them — so a copy of the power of attorney said to have been given by me may be refused to anyone attending on my behalf without written authority. I therefore request, in any event, that the investigating officer requisition the whole record directly, which will be both quicker and safer, since a record requisitioned by the police is a record preserved.

1. WHAT I ASK FOR

12.1 I respectfully request that:

(a) a First Information Report be registered on this complaint under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and that a copy of the information as recorded be supplied to me by email, free of cost, under section 173(2);

(b) the investigation be entrusted to an officer of the NRI Wing not below the rank of Inspector, and that I be informed of that officer's name, rank, telephone number and email address;

(c) the Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar concerned be required to produce the original registration record of the impugned document, from Book 1 or Book 4 as the case may be, including the endorsements, the particulars of the identifying witnesses, and the passport-size photographs and fingerprints taken under section 32A of the Registration Act, 1908, and that those photographs and fingerprints be compared with my own;

(d) the identity documents produced at the registration counter be traced and verified, and the e-stamp certificate borne on the impugned document be verified against the record of Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd, which will show who purchased that certificate, on what date and at which counter;

(e) the closed-circuit television footage of the office of the Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar for the day of registration, and the corresponding entries in the National Generic Document Registration System at igrpunjab.gov.in, be secured and preserved before they are overwritten;

(f) the roznamcha of the Halqa Patwari, the mutation file and the jamabandi entries for the Property be requisitioned from the tehsil, and the patwari, the Field Kanungo and the revenue officer who made, checked and attested those entries be examined;

(g) my statement be recorded by audio-video electronic means under section 530 of the Sanhita, so that the investigation is not delayed by my being outside India;

(h) the immigration and passport records establishing that I was outside India on the material dates be obtained through the proper channel, and the copies annexed by me be taken on the file for that purpose;

(i) the sale consideration said to have been paid under the impugned instrument, and any other proceeds of the acts complained of in the hands of the persons accused, be traced and, with the approval of the Superintendent of Police, made the subject of an application under section 107 of the Sanhita for attachment as property derived or obtained from criminal activity. I do NOT ask that the Property itself be attached under that section. The Property is not derived or obtained from criminal activity; it is mine, and I am the person injured by these acts;

(j) as regards the Property itself, the Sub-Registrar and the Joint Sub-Registrar of the tehsil, and the Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar concerned, be informed in writing that the impugned instrument is under criminal investigation, so that no further deed affecting the Property is registered and no further mutation is sanctioned upon it while the investigation is pending. I am separately advised that the instrument for restraining a further sale is an application for a temporary injunction in a civil suit for cancellation under sections 31 to 34 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, and I do not ask the police to do what belongs to a civil court;

(k) the persons accused be restrained, so far as the law permits, from raising or extending any construction upon the Property, from cutting or removing trees, crops or soil, and from creating any tenancy, mortgage, charge or third-party interest in it;

(l) if any part of this matter is found to fall outside the jurisdiction of the police station receiving it, a Zero First Information Report be recorded and transferred to the station having jurisdiction, rather than this complaint being returned to me; and

(m) I be informed in writing, at the email address given above, of the action taken on this complaint, and of the reasons if no First Information Report is registered upon it.

1. UNDERTAKING

13.1 I undertake to make myself available for examination by audio-video electronic means at any hour convenient to the investigating officer; to travel to India should the investigating officer or a court require my personal presence, upon reasonable notice; to produce for inspection the originals of every document annexed here in copy; to furnish my specimen signatures and, if required, my fingerprints, before the Indian mission in the country where I reside, for comparison with the impugned document; and to bear the cost of certified copies and of any record I am asked to obtain.

13.2 I am aware that giving false information to a public servant, and making a false charge with intent to injure, are themselves offences, and I make this complaint with that knowledge.

VERIFICATION OF THE COMPLAINT

I, __________, __________ __________, the complainant above named, verify that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 13 of this complaint, and of the Schedule below, are true to my own knowledge, save as to those matters stated on information received which I believe to be true, and that I have concealed nothing material. Verified at __________ on __________.

Signature: ______________________________

Name: __________
Passport / OCI card number: __________
Email: __________
Telephone: __________

(This verification is a declaration and not an oath. The oath is administered on the separate affidavit printed below, which is annexed to this complaint.)

THE SCHEDULE
(the Property referred to above)

__________

Revenue estate / locality: __________
Tehsil: __________
District: __________, Punjab

AFFIDAVIT
(A SEPARATE INSTRUMENT, SWORN AND ANNEXED IN SUPPORT OF THE COMPLAINT ABOVE. IT IS TO BE E-STAMPED — SEE THE NOTE AT THE FOOT OF IT.)

IN THE MATTER OF: the complaint dated __________ made by __________ to __________, and copied to the Station House Officer, __________, for registration of a First Information Report under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, concerning __________ in respect of __________ in the revenue estate of __________, Tehsil __________, District __________, Punjab.

I, __________, __________ __________, __________, residing at __________, __________, holding passport or Overseas Citizen of India card number __________, do solemnly affirm and declare as follows:

1. That I am the complainant named in the complaint dated __________ annexed to this affidavit, that I am competent to swear this affidavit, and that I am acquainted with the facts deposed to.

1. That I have read, or had read over and explained to me in a language I understand, the whole of that complaint, including paragraphs 1 to 13 and the Schedule, and I adopt its contents as part of this affidavit as if they were set out here at length.

1. That the property described in the Schedule to that complaint is mine, and that I have never sold, gifted, exchanged, relinquished or mortgaged it, never agreed to sell it, and never executed or authorised any power of attorney, sale deed, will, relinquishment deed, family settlement or other instrument under which any person could deal with it.

1. That I did not execute the instrument complained of; that I did not appear before any Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar in respect of it; that I did not receive any consideration under it in any form; and that any signature, photograph or thumb impression upon it attributed to me is not mine.

1. That I first came to know of the matters complained of on __________, in the circumstances set out in paragraph 5.2 of the complaint, and not before that date.

1. That the persons named in paragraph 6.1 of the complaint are named on the material presently available to me and not upon suspicion, and that I have named no person with intent to injure him.

1. That the documents listed in paragraph 11.1 of the complaint and annexed to it are true copies of their originals, which are in my possession or power and which I will produce for inspection whenever required.

1. That no proceeding, civil, revenue or criminal, relating to the said property has been concealed from the complaint, and that the history set out in paragraph 10 of it is complete.

1. That this affidavit is sworn in support of the complaint, and is sworn also for the purposes of section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 should it become necessary, after an application under section 173(4) of that Sanhita, to apply to the Judicial Magistrate.

VERIFICATION OF THIS AFFIDAVIT

I, the deponent above named, verify that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 9 of this affidavit are true to my own knowledge, save as to those matters stated on information received which I believe to be true, and that nothing material has been concealed. Verified at __________ on __________.

DEPONENT

Signature: ______________________________
Name: __________
Passport / OCI card number: __________

JURAT

Solemnly affirmed and sworn before me, __________, at __________, on __________, by the deponent above named, who is known to me or was identified to my satisfaction, and who signed this affidavit in my presence.

Signature and seal of the attesting authority: ______________________________

Serial number of the entry in the register of the attesting authority: ______________________________

NOTE ON THE FACE OF THIS AFFIDAVIT — STAMPING, AND THE THREE-MONTH DEADLINE

This affidavit is a chargeable instrument under Article 4 (Affidavit) of Schedule I-A to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as that Act applies in Punjab. The complaint it supports is not chargeable and is printed on plain paper. Punjab has no physical stamp paper: the e-stamp is bought at www.shcilestamp.com, or at an Authorised Collection Centre of Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd, by selecting Punjab and the article "Affidavit", and the duty in force is displayed on that screen. If this affidavit is sworn outside India, section 18(1) of that Act requires it to be stamped within three months after it is first received in India, and section 18(2) allows it to be taken within the same three months to the Collector of Stamps, who in Punjab is the Deputy Commissioner of the district. Under section 35, an instrument not duly stamped is inadmissible in evidence and no public officer may act upon it. WHOEVER RECEIVES THIS IN INDIA SHOULD NOTE THE DATE OF RECEIPT AND DIARISE THREE MONTHS FROM IT.

FOR THE RECEIVING OFFICE — ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Received at ____________________________________________ on ______________ at ________ hours.

Diary / Rapat number: ______________________________

Name, rank and belt number of the receiving officer: ______________________________

Signature and seal of the police station or office: ______________________________

Sworn affidavit received with the complaint: YES / NO. Number of annexures received: ______________

First Information Report number, if registered: ______________________ dated ______________, under section(s) ______________________________ of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Name and contact number of the investigating officer: ______________________________