Police station can’t refuse to register FIRs, Odisha CM Majhi tells cops

The chief minister also told the police to step up, pointing that the conviction rate for crimes against women in Odisha was in single digits

Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday said police stations in Odisha could not refuse to register a first information report (FIR) and that they were bound to register a case even if the crime hasn’t been committed in their jurisdiction.

Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi also accused the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) regime of failing to implement the rule of law (X/MohanMOdisha)

“This will be called ‘Zero FIR’ and will be sent to the respective police station for further due process,” Majhi said at a sensitisation programme on Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

“Moreover, the police personnel cannot call a disabled person, a minor below 15 years of age or those above 60 to the police station, except in unavoidable circumstances,” he said, asking the police to solve child sex abuse cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act within 60 days.

Majhi, who accused the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) regime of failing to implement the rule of law due to lack of political will, said there was no dearth of laws to deal with various crimes in our country.

“The previous government talked about women empowerment every day. What kind of women’s empowerment they achieved is beyond anyone’s comprehension,” he said, adding that the conviction rate of crimes against women was in single digits in Odisha.

According to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) report for 2022, the conviction rate for these crimes in Odisha was 9.3% as compared to 70.8% in Uttar Pradesh, 68% in Mizoram and 60.9% in Bihar.

“What I mean to say is that there are only two reasons for this shameful situation in Odisha, the first is that the investigation is sloppy and the second is the lack of political will. But, this will not work now. I have told the Legislative Assembly that the criminals should be reformed, otherwise the government would not spare them. In the last meeting of District Magistrates and SPs, I have said all the pending cases of violence against women in various police stations, police stations and courts of the state should be disposed quickly and steps should be taken to punish them,” he said.