Explained: What is an FIR, and does it mean the leaders are guilty?

An FIR, or first information report, records a complaint about an alleged offence.

It starts a police investigation but is not a finding of guilt.

Delhi Police registered FIRs over the INDIA bloc’s October 12 march towards the Supreme Court.

Police cite the lack of permission and alleged breaking of barricades.

Reports differ on how many cases there are and who is named.

The grounds given are that permission for the march had not been granted and that protesters broke barricades, according to The Tribune.

Police allege that a mini-truck was used to push through barricades, according to the same report.

The Statesman adds that the FIRs also cover graffiti on roads in central Delhi.

The Tribune says the Tilak Marg FIR relates to protesters who entered the Supreme Court premises and reportedly names INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi.

Business Today’s headline says the FIRs were registered against Rahul Gandhi, but its article does not say who is named, and NewsDrum says the identities of those named were not immediately available. Whether Rahul Gandhi is named is therefore unconfirmed.

The legal sections invoked were not specified in The Tribune and Business Today reports.

Police had imposed restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in the area, according to NewsDrum.

Thousands of INDIA bloc supporters marched from Connaught Place under heavy security, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to The Tribune.

A bus carrying Rahul Gandhi and other leaders halted at Mandi House, where Gandhi and others climbed onto its roof, according to the same report.

Police stopped the march at a barricade on Bhagwan Dass Marg, more than a kilometre from the Supreme Court, according to PTI reports.

Eleven opposition leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court on October 12 against the Election Commission’s special intensive revision of electoral rolls, according to Open magazine.

Barakhamba Road, New Delhi (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0