In Madhu Bala vs. Suresh Kumar (1997) 8 SCC
476, this Court has held that FIR must be registered in the
FIR Register which shall be a book consisting of 200
pages. It is true that the substance of the information is
also to be mentioned in the Daily diary (or the general
diary). But, the basic requirement is to register the FIR in
the FIR Book or Register. Even in Bhajan Lal (supra),
this Court held that FIR has to be entered in a book in a
form which is commonly called the First Information
Report.
54) It is thus clear that registration of FIR is to be done in
a book called FIR book or FIR Register. Of course, in
addition, the gist of the FIR or the substance of the FIR
may also be mentioned simultaneously in the General
Diary as mandated in the respective Police Act or Rules, as
the case may be, under the relevant State provisions.
The General Diary is a record of all important
transactions/events taking place in a police station,
including departure and arrival of police staff, handing
over or taking over of charge, arrest of a person, details of
law and order duties, visit of senior officers etc. It is in this
context that gist or substance of each FIR being registered
in the police station is also mentioned in the General Diary
since registration of FIR also happens to be a very
important event in the police station. Since General Diary
is a record that is maintained chronologically on day-today
basis (on each day, starting with new number 1), the
General Diary entry reference is also mentioned
simultaneously in the FIR Book, while FIR number is
mentioned in the General Diary entry since both of these
are prepared simultaneously.