Supreme Court enforces timely FIR access for accused bridging statutory gaps in BNSS

Gist The Supreme Court recently directed the Uttar Pradesh police to provide an independent journalist with a copy of the First Information Report FIR registered against him, after he alleged the police were withholding it to harass him. This incident highlights a critical gap in criminal procedure: while statutes do not explicitly grant an accused immediate access to an FIR upon registration, judicial precedents mandate its timely disclosure. For a UPSC aspirant, this topic bridges fundamental rights fair trial, natural justice and governance police reforms, transparency , making it highly relevant for Mains Paper II. Background The statutory framework governing criminal procedure in India, now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 BNSS which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 , explicitly guarantees a free copy of the FIR "forthwith" only to the informant or victim under Section 173 2 . The statute is silent on the accused's right to access the FIR immediately upon registration. Instead, Section 230 of the BNSS formerly Section 207 of the CrPC mandates that the magistrate must furnish the accused with the FIR and…