Why is FIR check indispensable?

Background verification is one of the most important ways that companies can protect their customers and employees. Fraudsters and bad actors are always looking for new ways of breaking into systems, industries and even organizations. The best way to find out whether a background check will put your business at ease is by asking the right questions. For example, if someone claims to be a government employee but is actually just an agent for a criminal organisation, how trustworthy are they?

72% of employees run a background check for every person they employ.

Why is FIR search important in background verification?

While there are many aspects to background checks, criminal records as a check surely stand out. It is imperative for organisations to sustain and safeguard the environment to which the candidate is being introduced. 

As India grows, crimes too are on a rise. Police forces are weakened day by day and there is no central database of criminal records. This lack of information exchange is one of the many reasons for this rise in crime rates. To increase social awareness about criminals and create an internet-based database would be very helpful for the nation’s safety.

Eighty-two percent (82%) of employers who run background checks are looking for criminal records that may indicate whether the candidate could pose a threat to customers or create an unsafe work environment.

Risk-based background checks are compelled by organizations and individuals when they involve employment, adoption, military enlistment, firearm purchases, duty-bound travel outside the state and so on. When it comes to India, courts have a fair and unified approach for litigation searches. These are the types of sources of information one can find in their court records:

· Criminal Suit (Magistrate Court)

· Criminal Suit (District Court)

· Criminal Suit (State Court)

· District Civil Courts & Tribunals

· District Court

· High Courts

· Magistrate Court

· State Court

· Supreme Court

Unfortunately, finding a criminal record in India today is a cumbersome task due to the unorganised nature of its repository. 

In India, each state has principal authority over criminal record information, within a basic framework of federal jurisdiction. Courts maintain personal information regarding convictions, but often only provide defendants with redacted records, not the full record. 

However, in most states throughout India, individuals or entities are restricted from accessing an individual’s criminal history without permission from that individual, or a valid legal reason to do so.

Also, court records display very limited information about the accused. For instance, as many Indians share the same name, this makes it difficult to find records of criminals using just a name.

​​Therefore, while court records may tell you something about a person’s past, they don’t give you a complete picture of their history — especially if you only have a couple of details to go on.

The solution to this – FIR’s

FIR’s provide extensive information about the accused that would suffice for a thorough criminal background verification sans any errors.

FIR Search Helps You Find What You Need

In India, police records are maintained separately from court records. Police records maintain information pertaining to criminal proceedings. Under the Indian Penal Code, an FIR is a First Information Report. It’s a document prepared by the police which contains details of the crime. The first thing that happens when someone commits a crime is that they are formally charged, and this information becomes part of their criminal record.

Court records, on the other hand, reflect a charge mostly after 3 months (sometimes after 3 years), have no address in them since 2017, and overall gives a poorer experience to the one sourcing the information. 

However, the problems with FIR’s are they are mostly recorded in regional languages, stored away in physical files, and access to them can be extremely challenging.

Summing up

When it comes to hiring and managing employees, employers are always concerned about mistakes that could be made by their current or future workforce. With FIR records from pan India, CrimeCheck ensures you know what a person has previously been convicted of based on criminal background checks.