Someone has wronged you and you want a criminal case. There are two ways into a criminal court in Pakistan and they are genuinely different: the police route through an FIR, and the direct route through a private complaint to a magistrate. Choosing wrongly costs months.
The distinction that decides it
Every offence is either cognizable or non-cognizable, and the First Schedule to the Code of Criminal Procedure says which.
- Cognizable — the police may register an FIR and investigate without a magistrate's order, and may arrest without a warrant. Murder, robbery, rape, serious hurt, dacoity.
- Non-cognizable — the police may not investigate without a magistrate's order under section 155(2) CrPC. Simple hurt, criminal intimidation, defamation, many cheating and trespass cases.
If your offence is non-cognizable, going to the police station and demanding an FIR will not work, and the refusal is lawful. The private complaint is your route.
The FIR route
Under section 154 CrPC the officer in charge must reduce to writing information about a cognizable offence. Once registered, the state investigates: statements under section 161, recoveries, arrests, and finally a report under section 173 — the challan — that puts the accused before the court.
What it gives you: the investigative power of the state. Search, seizure, arrest, forensics and the ability to compel. You do not pay for it, and the prosecution is conducted by the state.
What it costs you: control. The police decide the pace and the direction. They may find the case false and submit a cancellation report. They may add or drop accused. If the investigation is weak or partisan, you are watching it happen.
If the police refuse to register a cognizable offence, the remedies are an application to the SHO's superiors and then to the Justice of Peace under section 22-A/22-B CrPC for a direction to register the FIR.
The private complaint route
Under section 200 CrPC you file a complaint directly before the magistrate. The magistrate examines you on oath, may hold a preliminary inquiry under section 202, and either dismisses the complaint under section 203 or issues process to the accused under section 204.
What it gives you: control and speed of initiation. You draft the case, you choose the accused, you lead the evidence, and no police officer can bury it. It is the only route for a non-cognizable offence without a magistrate's order.
What it costs you: the burden. There is no investigation done for you. You must produce your witnesses and your documents, at your own expense, and prove the case yourself. There is no arrest to create pressure.
Which to choose
Choose the FIR when the offence is cognizable and serious, when you need arrest or recovery, when the evidence is in someone else's possession and only the state can seize it, or when the accused is dangerous.
Choose the private complaint when the offence is non-cognizable; when the police have refused, delayed or produced a hostile investigation; when the evidence is documentary and already in your hands — a cheque, an agreement, messages; or when you want the matter moving without waiting on a police station.
The two are not always alternatives. Where an FIR has been registered but the police submit a cancellation report, the magistrate may still take cognizance on a complaint, and a complaint can be filed alongside in appropriate circumstances. That is a strategic question for an advocate on your specific facts.
Drafting a complaint that survives section 203
Most private complaints are dismissed at the threshold, and usually for the same reasons.
- Plead the ingredients of the offence, section by section. A complaint that narrates a grievance without matching it to the elements of an offence invites dismissal.
- Be specific about date, time, place and what each accused personally did. Naming an entire family without saying what any of them did is the commonest fatal defect.
- Attach your documents and list your witnesses.
- Explain any delay. An unexplained gap between the incident and the complaint is read as an afterthought.
- Do not overstate. Adding grave sections to an ordinary dispute is transparent, and it damages the parts of your complaint that were true.
Two things worth knowing before you start
First, some offences are compoundable under section 345 CrPC — they can be settled with the complainant's consent, and many private complaints end that way. That is not a failure; for a private dispute it is often the best outcome available.
Second, a criminal case filed to create leverage in what is really a civil dispute is both visible to the court and dangerous to you. A false complaint exposes you to proceedings for malicious prosecution and to prosecution under sections 182 and 211 of the Penal Code.
This article describes general criminal procedure in Pakistan and is not advice on any particular matter. Whether an offence is cognizable, and which route serves you better, depend on the sections involved and the evidence you hold. Consult an advocate before filing — the choice made at the start is difficult to reverse later.