Certified copy of FIR, chargesheet or closure report not provided

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

The short answer. If you reported the crime, a copy of the FIR is yours free of cost, immediately, under Section 173(2) of the BNSS, 2023 (earlier Section 154(2) CrPC). If you are the accused, the court must supply you the chargesheet and the documents relied on, free, once it takes cognizance (Section 230 BNSS, earlier 207 CrPC). Most FIRs must also be published on the state police website within 24 hours under the Supreme Court's directions in Youth Bar Association of India v Union of India (2016). Certified copies of anything already filed in court come from the court's copying section for a small per-page fee. RTI is the lever for closure reports and for proving what the police did, not for documents inside a live investigation. The sections below give you the exact rule to quote at the counter.

Two free routes exist before you spend a rupee.

First, the statutory copy. Section 173(2) BNSS says a copy of the FIR shall be given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant or the victim. If you reported the offence and walked out without a copy, go back and ask for it by quoting the section. Carry ID and your complaint acknowledgement.

Second, the download. In Youth Bar Association of India v Union of India, the Supreme Court directed all states to upload FIRs on police websites within 24 hours of registration, extendable to 48 or 72 hours in remote areas. Sensitive categories, such as sexual offences, offences under the POCSO Act and terror cases, are exempt. In Bihar, for example, you can pull the PDF from the Bihar Police website with the district, police station and FIR number. A downloaded copy serves most insurance and verification purposes; ask the receiving office whether it insists on a certified copy before paying for one.

For a stamped certified copy, apply in writing to the police station with the FIR number and a nominal copying fee, or apply to the court once the case reaches it.

Once police file a chargesheet, the record belongs to the court. The accused does not have to buy it: Section 230 BNSS obliges the court to supply the accused, free of cost and now also in electronic form, the police report, the FIR, witness statements and the documents the prosecution relies on. If you are an accused and have not received the set, your lawyer should ask the court for compliance before anything else happens in the case.

A victim, informant, or any person with a lawful interest gets a certified copy from the court's copying section (the nakal shakha). Find the case number on ecourts.gov.in using the FIR number, file the copy application with a court-fee stamp, and collect against your slip. High Court rules fix the page rate; ordinary copies take days to a couple of weeks, urgent copies cost a little more and come faster.

This is where people get stonewalled the most, and where RTI earns its place. When police file a closure report, the law requires them to inform the informant. The informant then has the right to object before the magistrate, usually through a protest petition, but you cannot object to a report you have never read.

Do these in parallel:

1. Apply to the magistrate's court copying section for a certified copy of the closure report, quoting the FIR and case number.
2. File an RTI with the district police PIO asking for: a copy of the closure or final report in FIR No. [X], the date it was filed in court, and the date on which intimation was sent to the informant. Once the investigation is closed, the Section 8(1)(h) exemption for ongoing investigations loses its force, and information commissions have repeatedly ordered disclosure of closed-case records.

A working RTI text:

To the Public Information Officer,
Office of the Superintendent of Police, [District]

Re: FIR No. [number/year], PS [name]

Please provide:
1. A copy of the final/closure report filed under Section 193 BNSS
   (earlier 173 CrPC) in the above FIR, with its date of filing.
2. The name of the court in which it was filed and the case number.
3. The date and mode by which intimation of closure was sent to the
   informant, with a copy of that intimation.
4. Certified copies of the above on payment of the prescribed fee.

Application fee of Rs 10 is enclosed/paid online.

File it on RTI Online for central forces, or your state portal otherwise. Reply due in 30 days; silence or refusal goes to first appeal.

Do not burn 30 days asking RTI for the case diary or witness statements while the investigation is running. Section 8(1)(h) lets the PIO refuse information that would impede an investigation, and most such requests fail. The court copying section is the correct door for a pending case. RTI also cannot reverse a closure, hurry a court, or pull a private person's documents. If a reply comes back refused, read why RTI gets rejected before appealing.

• Insurance. A burglary or theft claim almost always needs the FIR and, later, the final report. If the insurer shut your file meanwhile, see burglary claim closed without explanation.
• Frozen bank accounts. The FIR number is the thread that unravels a police-instructed freeze; start with when the bank will not share the lien order and debit freeze and lien removal.
• Protest petitions. The certified closure report plus an RTI reply showing late or absent intimation is a strong foundation before the magistrate.

Not for the informant. Section 173(2) BNSS gives the informant the copy free and forthwith, no permission layer. For third parties, the police may route the request through the copying process, but the FIR itself is a public document in most cases.

Check the category first. Sensitive offences are exempt from upload under the Youth Bar Association directions. If yours is an ordinary offence and still missing after 72 hours, mention the judgment in a written complaint to the SP and ask for upload or a certified copy.

The accused gets the statements the prosecution relies on as part of the free Section 230 set. Others generally cannot, and RTI will not extract them in a pending case.

A few rupees per page plus the application stamp, set by your High Court's rules. Anyone quoting hundreds of rupees at a court gate is a tout; pay only at the copying counter and keep the slip.

Usually yes, from the court record room if the record survives. Disposed-of records are squarely reachable by copying applications and RTI. Retention schedules differ by state, so ask the record keeper what exists first.

Escalate in writing to the superintendent of the copying section, then through your lawyer to the presiding judge. For police-held records, a written reminder to the SHO, then an RTI, builds the dated trail.

Download the FIR and court copy checklist (PDF) before you visit the police station or copying counter.