Write notes on the following : FIR and Complaint.

FIR: According to Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, FIR means every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the informant; and every such information, whether given in writing or reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it, and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf. Complaint under section 2(d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 means any allegation made orally or in writing to a Magistrate, with a view to his taking action under this Code that some person, whether known or unknown, has committed an offence, but it does not include a police report. The petition of complaint must be submitted to the Magistrate. If it is submitted to some other official it is not a complaint. In order to be a complaint, the petition must make allegations about occurrence of some offence. The key differences between complaint and FIR are given hereunder: A written document prepared by the police, when the police get the information about the commission of a crime for the very first time, is known as FIR or first information report. Conversely, a petition filed with the magistrate that contains an accusation regarding the commission of an offence and a prayer is made that the accused should be penalized, is called complaint. While a complaint has no prescribed format, FIR can only be registered in the format prescribed by the law. One can make a complaint to the metropolitan magistrate, whereas an informant or plaintiff can lodge FIR to the police officer of the respective police station. The complaint is made for both cognizable and non-cognizable offences. Unlike, only cognizable offences are covered in case of FIR. Any person can make a complaint to the magistrate regarding the offence, except in the case of marriage and defamation wherein only aggrieved party can make a complaint. On the contrary, any person who is an aggrieved party, witness or is having the knowledge of the crime can file FIR.