“The position is now contained in Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which corresponds substantially to the old Section 154 of the CrPC,” he said. Singhvi noted that under Section 173(3) of the BNSS, police may conduct a preliminary enquiry only for offences punishable with three to seven years’ imprisonment, adding that “unless there is abnormal, inordinate, palpable delay, the FIR must be registered,” in line with the Supreme Court’s Lalita Kumari ruling, which continues to be “followed consistently.”
