What is the fate of a criminal case when the complainant/informant dies without proving the FIR
First Information Report (FIR), is covered under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC). FIR (First Information Report), as the name suggests, is the first information provided regarding the commission of a cognizable offence (an offence in which the police may arrest a person without a warrant) by the victim himself or anyone on behalf of the victim., orally or in writing which is then recorded by the officer in charge of a Police Station. The object of registering a FIR is nothing but to simply set the investigative machinery rolling. It is a settled position of law that FIR is not a substantive piece of evidence. It can only be used as corroborative evidence or to check the creditworthiness of the informant or the witness. There is no law that the FIR cannot be taken into consideration on the death of Informant. The case will have to be proved on the basis of evidence collected by the Prosecution during the course of investigation and FIR is no evidence in the case, it is only a piece of information with the police records with which the system comes into motions and investigation is started.
