The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 gives statutory shape to the Zero FIR: under Section 173 BNSS, information about a cognizable offence must be recorded irrespective of the area where the offence was committed, and the record is then transferred to the police station competent to investigate. For a person apprehending arrest, this mobility of the FIR creates a moving target. This explainer examines where anticipatory bail under Section 482 BNSS (formerly Section 438 CrPC) should be sought when the FIR has been, or is likely to be, transferred between police stations or between States, and the practical issues that follow.
The Zero FIR under Section 173 BNSS
Section 173 BNSS requires that information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence be recorded irrespective of the area where the offence is committed. The provision also permits information to be given by electronic communication, to be taken on record on signature within three days. What practice long called a Zero FIR is therefore now anchored in the statute itself: the police station first approached cannot turn the informant away on the ground of territory. It registers the information, assigns it the number zero, and forwards it to the police station having jurisdiction, which re-registers it under a regular number and takes up the investigation.
1. Information recorded
Any police station records the information of a cognizable offence, regardless of where the offence occurred, as a Zero FIR.
2. Transfer
The Zero FIR is transmitted to the police station within whose jurisdiction the offence is alleged to have been committed — in the same district, another district, or another State.
3. Re-registration
The receiving police station registers the case under its own FIR number and the investigation proceeds there; the Zero FIR number falls away for most practical purposes.
4. Bail forum follows
Courts exercising jurisdiction over the investigating police station become the natural forum for anticipatory bail, remand and related proceedings.
Where to seek anticipatory bail
Section 482 BNSS empowers the High Court or the Court of Session to direct that a person apprehending arrest for a non-bailable offence be released on bail in the event of arrest. When an FIR has travelled, the application is ordinarily made before the Court of Session or the High Court having jurisdiction over the police station that is actually investigating the case — after transfer and re-registration, that means the receiving State, not the State where the Zero FIR happened to be recorded. Filing in the wrong forum wastes the most precious commodity in these matters, time, and an order from a court without connection to the investigation is of doubtful utility to the investigating agency expected to honour it.
A distinct, limited practice deserves one paragraph and no more, because this site carries a separate explainer on it. Where arrest appears imminent and the applicant cannot immediately reach the courts of the investigating State, courts in the applicant’s home State are in practice sometimes moved for short transit or interim protection: time-bound protection intended only to let the applicant travel and move the competent court. It is an exceptional, discretionary accommodation, usually granted on strict conditions and for a defined period; it is not a substitute for a regular application under Section 482 BNSS before the court connected to the investigation, and this explainer proceeds on the footing that the regular application remains the destination.
Recurring practical situations
Duplicate FIRs in two States
A Zero FIR in one State and a regular FIR in another, or parallel complaints by different relatives, can produce two live FIRs on overlapping facts. Protection obtained in one does not extend to the other, so each must be identified by number and police station and dealt with on its own.
Matrimonial complaints at the parental home city
Complaints arising from a matrimonial relationship are frequently lodged in the city where the wife’s parental home is situated, even when the matrimonial home lies elsewhere. The husband’s family then faces an investigation, and a bail forum, far from their residence — a scenario where the Zero FIR and transfer framework, and the question of the correct forum, matter acutely.
Verifying FIR status
Before filing, counsel should verify on the State police citizen portal whether an FIR exists, whether it is a Zero FIR awaiting transfer, and whether re-registration has occurred, since the application must correctly describe the FIR number and police station. Portals withhold copies in sensitive categories, in which case an application to the police station or the court becomes necessary.
Conditions that must work across State lines
When protection is granted in a transferred or inter-State matter, the conditions attached under Section 482 BNSS have to be workable across distance. The standard conditions — making oneself available for interrogation as required, not influencing witnesses, not leaving India without leave — take on a practical dimension: courts often direct the applicant to appear before the investigating officer of the receiving police station on specified dates, or permit first appearance through counsel with physical appearance to follow. An applicant residing in another State should propose concrete, verifiable arrangements: dates of appearance, an undertaking to respond to notices under the Sanhita at a disclosed address and telephone number, and, where the court permits, joining the investigation by video-conferencing for preliminary steps. Compliance must then be documented, because in a cross-State matter the status report of a distant investigating officer is often the only account of conduct the court will see.
Keeping the record straight
Transferred investigations punish loose drafting. The application should state the history in one clean sequence: the Zero FIR number, date and police station; the transfer; the re-registered FIR number and the investigating police station; and the provision-wise offences alleged, with BNS sections and, where useful, their IPC equivalents. Annexing whatever portal printouts or certified copies exist saves the first hearing from being consumed by questions about which FIR the court is actually dealing with.
In Zero FIR and transferred matters, the single most consequential early decision is the choice of forum. Identifying the police station actually investigating, and moving the court connected to it with a complete paper trail of the FIR’s journey, usually matters more than any argument on merits at the first hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is a Zero FIR?
A Zero FIR is a first information report registered by a police station that does not have territorial jurisdiction over the place of the offence. Section 173 BNSS requires information of a cognizable offence to be recorded irrespective of the area where the offence is committed. The report is given the number zero and transferred to the competent police station, which re-registers it with a regular number and investigates.
Where should anticipatory bail be filed when the FIR is registered in another State?
The application is ordinarily made under Section 482 BNSS before the Court of Session or the High Court exercising jurisdiction over the police station investigating the case. Where immediate travel is impracticable and arrest is imminent, courts in the applicant’s home State are, in practice, sometimes approached for short transit or interim protection limited in time, so that the regular application can be moved before the competent court.
What if two FIRs on the same facts exist in two States?
Duplicate FIRs arise when both a Zero FIR and a regular FIR, or two complaints by different family members, are registered on substantially the same allegations. Each FIR must be tracked separately, since protection in one does not automatically cover the other. Remedies include seeking anticipatory bail in respect of each, and invoking the jurisdiction of the constitutional courts for clubbing or transfer where the law permits.
How can a person verify whether an FIR has been registered or transferred?
Most State police forces publish FIR copies on their citizen portals, subject to exceptions for sensitive offences, and Section 173 BNSS entitles the informant to a free copy. A person apprehending arrest can have the portals of both States checked, seek information from the police station concerned, and watch for a re-registration number after transfer, since the new number identifies the FIR for the bail application.