How to Get an FIR Quashed?

An FIR (First Information Report) is often the starting point of a criminal investigation, which may lead to the filing of a chargesheet or closure report and a trial before a Magistrate or Sessions Judge. However, not every FIR is genuine or deserves to go through a full trial. In many situations, an FIR may be lodged due to a misunderstanding, personal dispute, or even with malicious intent. When such an FIR continues to hang over the accused, it can cause serious legal, professional, and personal consequences. Once an FIR is registered, it triggers an investigation and can potentially lead to arrest, prosecution, damage to reputation, and trial.

Indian law recognizes this reality and acknowledges that criminal law should not be wielded as a sword to oppress or harass. Therefore, the Indian judiciary has developed a mechanism to quash an FIR — that is, to have it set aside or cancelled by a court before it advances into a full trial. Quashing of FIR generally refers to setting aside or cancelling the FIR. Whenever an FIR is quashed, all consequential proceedings arising out of it, including arrest, chargesheet, trial, and others, are also set aside.

Through their inherent and constitutional powers, High Courts under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (corresponding to Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973), and Article 226 of Constitution of India can intervene to prevent abuse of the legal process and to secure the ends of justice. The power of quashing is exercised sparingly and only when the court is convinced that the FIR ought not to have been filed in the first place. It acts as a shield against abuse of the criminal justice system.

This article explains what it means to get an FIR quashed, effects of quashing of FIR, the legal grounds on which courts exercise this power and stages at which the Court can quash the FIR.

Effect of Quashing of FIR

The most important and required outcome of quashing of FIR is termination of the entire criminal proceedings arising out of the said FIR. The investigation (if pending), chargesheet, charges framed by the court and the ongoing trial would come to end from the date when the order of quashing of FIR is pronounced by the Court. The entire criminal case shall be dismissed alongwith all the pending applications. The bail bond shall be discharged. If the case continues, then it would amount to abuse of process of law and would cause miscarriage of justice. The said FIR shall not be counted as criminal antecedents or criminal record of the accused. Therefore, quashing of FIR is an important and powerful legal remedy available against false and malicious criminal proceedings.

Grounds for Quashing of FIR

Quashing of FIR means that the court sets aside or cancels the FIR. When an FIR is quashed, the criminal proceedings that flow from it generally cannot proceed further. The Supreme Court of India in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, along with various other precedents, and several High Courts have laid down clear principles governing when a quashing petition should be allowed. The primary grounds include:

1. No Prima Facie Case Against the Accused

An FIR should disclose a prima facie cognizable offence — meaning that, at first glance, the facts should indicate a criminal offence that the police have jurisdiction to investigate. Where the allegations made in the First Information Report or complaint, even if taken at face value and accepted in their entirety, do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused, the FIR can be quashed.

The High Court of Madhya Pradesh in Ramchandra & Ors. v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Anr. quashed an FIR, chargesheet, and entire consequential criminal proceedings against the accused for an offence under Section 306 (Abetment to Suicide) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, on the ground that the alleged act of beating the deceased and not returning his money did not amount to abetment to suicide.

2. Absurd Allegations

Where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint are so absurd and inherently improbable that no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused, the High Court may quash such an FIR.

The Supreme Court in Ramesh Rajagopal v. Devi Polymers quashed the FIR against the accused for offences under Sections 409, 468, 471 and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections 65 and 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 on the ground that the allegations were inherently improbable and there was no sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused.

3. FIR Lodged with Mala Fide Intent / Abuse of Process of Law

Courts have consistently held that the process of law cannot be used as a weapon for harassment. Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide intent and/or is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused, or with a view to spite him due to a private and personal grudge, the FIR may be quashed.

4. Dispute Essentially Civil in Nature

Many disputes arise out of civil or contractual matters — such as breach of contract, recovery of money, or property disputes — which are not criminal offences per se. If an FIR has been filed under criminal provisions when the true nature of the dispute is civil, the court may quash it.

In Anukul Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, where the FIR was lodged in relation to a dispute arising out of immovable property, the Supreme Court quashed the FIR while observing that the dispute was purely civil in nature and that criminal colour had been artificially given to it.

 

5. Settlement Between the Parties

When the dispute is genuinely and amicably settled between the parties and the complainant does not wish to continue the litigation, the court may quash the FIR in appropriate cases.

The Supreme Court in K. Bharti Devi v. State of Telangana observed that when a settlement has been arrived at between the parties, technicalities of law should not be allowed to stand in the way of quashing the criminal proceedings, and continuation of such proceedings would amount to an exercise in futility.

 

6. Legal Bar

Where there is an express legal bar engrafted in any provision of the Penal Code, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, or the concerned Act under which the criminal proceedings are instituted, to the institution or continuance of proceedings, and/or where there exists a specific provision providing efficacious redress to the aggrieved party, the court may quash the FIR in such circumstances.

 

At What Stage Can an FIR Be Quashed?

Article 226 of the Constitution of India, Section 482 of the CrPC, and Section 528 of the BNSS empower the High Court to quash an FIR. These provisions do not prescribe any time limit or stage for exercising this power. Therefore, in a slew of decisions, the Supreme Court and various High Courts have held that the power of quashing can be exercised at any stage — whether at the nascent stage of investigation, after completion of investigation and filing of the chargesheet, or even after evidence has been recorded.

1. Quashing of FIR at the Preliminary Stage of Investigation

When the FIR has recently been registered and the investigation is at a very nascent or preliminary stage, and from a perusal of the FIR it appears that no offence has been committed, the High Court may quash the FIR at that initial stage.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Imran Pratapgadhi v. State of Gujarat & Anr. quashed an FIR while observing that there is no absolute rule that when the investigation is at a nascent stage, the High Court cannot exercise its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India or under Section 482 of the CrPC (equivalent to Section 528 of the BNSS). If the High Court finds that no offence is made out on the face of it, it can interfere to prevent abuse of process, even at the nascent stage.

2. Quashing of FIR After Completion of Investigation and Filing of Chargesheet

Even after a chargesheet has been filed, the High Court retains the power to quash the FIR and the consequential proceedings. In such cases, the court considers the FIR along with the chargesheet and accompanying documents. Most quashing petitions are decided at this stage. When the Court quashes the FIR, it also quashes the chargesheet and all consequential criminal proceedings arising from it.

The Supreme Court in Shaileshbhai Ranchodbhai Patel v. State of Gujarat held that the High Court retains the power under Section 482 CrPC to quash an FIR even after a charge-sheet under Section 173(2) has been filed, provided it is satisfied that the FIR and charge-sheet, read together and accepted as true, do not disclose the commission of any offence, or that continuation of proceedings would amount to abuse of the process of law. And, in Mamta Shailesh Chandra v. State of Uttarakhand & Ors., the Supreme Court observed that when a chargesheet is submitted subsequent to the filing of a quashing petition, the High Court may still examine whether the alleged offences are prima facie made out on the basis of the FIR, chargesheet, and other materials.

 

Conclusion

An FIR can be a life-altering event for the person named in it. However, the law recognizes that the criminal justice system must not be misused for harassment or oppression. The power of quashing an FIR exists to ensure fairness, prevent abuse, and uphold the rule of law. Quashing is not a right but a judicial remedy exercised sparingly and with caution. Every case turns on its own facts, and the courts carefully examine whether the FIR discloses a cognizable offence, whether it is malicious, whether the dispute is civil in nature, and whether justice demands quashing.