Jurisdiction in credit card fraud cases: where to file
By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 3 Nov 2026 · Court process
You can file a credit card fraud complaint at any police station, because a first information report may be given irrespective of where the offence occurred. For the trial, the ordinary rule is the place of the offence, but where the deception was practised by electronic communication, the court where the message was sent or received also has jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction is the first thing an experienced defence lawyer tests in a fraud case, because a court without jurisdiction cannot try the offence at all, no matter how strong the evidence. For a victim, the practical question is narrower: where do I go, and where will the case actually be heard? The answer is that the forum for reporting and the forum for trial are governed by different rules, and they are not always the same place.
Two provisions carry most of the weight. For reporting, section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 allows information about a cognizable offence to be given to the officer in charge of any police station, irrespective of the area where the offence was committed. For trial, sections 197 to 209 of the same Sanhita, which fall in Chapter XIV on the jurisdiction of the criminal courts, decide the place of inquiry and trial. Then there is a third layer, the bank's own dispute mechanism, which is not a court at all.
The ordinary rule: the place of the offence
Section 197 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 states the general principle: every offence shall ordinarily be inquired into and tried by a court within whose local jurisdiction it was committed. The word ordinarily does the heavy lifting. It creates a default, not an absolute command, and the sections that follow it create the exceptions.
The default matters because it tells you where the case will land if nobody argues about it. In a credit card fraud, the place of the offence is not always obvious. The card was issued in one city, the transaction was authorised in another, the goods were delivered in a third, and the person who used the card data may be in a fourth. That dispersal is precisely why the special rules exist.
The electronic communication rule
Section 202(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with offences that include cheating where the deception was practised by electronic communications, letters or telecommunication messages. It allows the offence to be inquired into or tried by any court within whose local jurisdiction such communication or message was sent or was received.
This is the provision a card fraud victim relies on most often. If the fraud began with a phishing message, a spoofed call or a fraudulent payment page that you accessed from Kolkata, the deception was received where you were. That gives the Kolkata courts jurisdiction over the offence even if the money moved through accounts in other states, and even if the card-issuing bank's processing centre is elsewhere. Section 202 also covers the case where cheating dishonestly induced the delivery of property, allowing trial where the property was delivered or received.
It is worth knowing that this is a change, and a helpful one. The provision corresponding to section 202(1) in the old Code of Criminal Procedure, section 182, spoke of deception practised by letters or telecommunication messages. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita expressly added electronic communications, which puts email and online messaging on the same footing as the older forms.
Why the zero FIR rule makes the first step simple
Many victims hesitate because they think they must travel to the place where the offence occurred. They do not. Because section 173 allows information to be given irrespective of the area of the offence, a police station that lacks territorial jurisdiction registers what is called a zero FIR, assigns it the number zero rather than a regular serial number, and transfers the papers to the station that does have jurisdiction.
The consequence is that your first contact does not have to be legally perfect. What you should not do is walk away without a registered complaint when a station tells you the matter is out of its area. The correct answer to that statement is that a zero FIR can be registered and transferred, and the request for the reasons in writing if it is refused.
Which court in Kolkata hears the case
Once a case is registered, the offence and the punishment decide the forum. Offences punishable with imprisonment up to three years, which is where sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 sit, are triable by a magistrate. Cheating under section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, punishable with imprisonment extending to seven years, is more serious, and the trial court is determined by whether the offence is triable by a magistrate or by a court of session under the First Schedule to the Sanhita.
| Forum | What it decides | How you reach it |
|---|---|---|
| Police station | Registration of the FIR, including a zero FIR | Written or electronic complaint under section 173 |
| Cyber crime police station | Investigation of offences under the IT Act and the Sanhita | Reference from a local station or directly |
| Magistrate | Trial of offences punishable up to three years | Charge sheet filed after investigation |
| Court of session | Trial of graver offences such as cheating under section 318(4) | Committal by the magistrate |
| Calcutta High Court | Quashing, bail and inherent powers | Petition under section 528 or bail under section 482 |
| Civil court | Recovery of the money as a debt or damages | Separate suit, where the defendant resides or the cause of action arose |
In Kolkata, the magistrate courts and the city sessions court sit in the Bankshall Court complex, and the High Court at Calcutta is the constitutional and inherent-powers forum above them. A criminal case against an accused person and a civil suit against the same person can be heard in different courts, and choosing between them is a strategic decision, not a jurisdictional one.
When the accused is in another state
A fraud investigation that stays within India is an ordinary investigation, and the investigating officer uses the Sanhita's machinery to reach a suspect in another state. The jurisdiction question in such a case is usually about the place of trial rather than about the power to investigate. Where the offence was committed partly in one area and partly in another, or where it consists of several acts done in different areas, section 198 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 allows any court having jurisdiction over any of those areas to inquire into or try the offence.
That breadth is deliberate. Online fraud rarely happens in a single place: the message is sent from one location, received in another, and the money withdrawn in a third. If the law required a single place, most such cases would be untriable. If you are told that the case belongs elsewhere merely because the suspect is elsewhere, ask for that in writing, and take advice before accepting it.
When the money has left India
Where the proceeds have moved abroad, the case becomes harder in practice even where the law is clear. A prosecution involving conduct outside India raises questions of extradition and of cooperation between agencies, and the answers depend on treaties and on the country concerned. It is better to say plainly that the outcome in such a case is uncertain than to suggest that a court order alone will bring the money back.
What helps on the criminal side is speed, not jurisdiction. Section 208 of the Sanhita addresses a person who may be dealt with where the offence is registered in India as well as where he is found, which matters when a suspect is traceable within the country. Beyond that, the practical levers are the freezing of beneficiary accounts through the national cyber crime reporting mechanism and, where a domestic intermediary such as a payment aggregator is involved, a direction to that intermediary. Nothing in the jurisdiction rules substitutes for acting in the first hours.
Civil recovery is a different forum and a different test
A criminal case and a civil claim run on different standards. The criminal prosecution asks whether an offence was committed and, if so, by whom, and the outcome is conviction or acquittal. A civil suit asks whether the defendant owes you money, whether as a debt, as money had and received, or as damages for deceit, and the outcome is a decree for a sum. A conviction is not a precondition to the suit, and an acquittal does not defeat it, because the standards of proof differ.
For the suit, the ordinary rule places the case where the defendant resides or carries on business, or where the cause of action arose, and leave to sue may be sought where that would be inconvenient. Suing an unidentified person is not usually possible, so a recovery suit normally waits until the investigating agency identifies a beneficiary or the court permits steps to trace the accounts. Our page on civil litigation sets out how a recovery suit and a criminal complaint are sequenced together.
The bank's own forum: not a court, but a real one
Your claim against the card issuer is not litigated in a criminal court at all. The Reserve Bank of India directions on limiting customer liability in unauthorised electronic banking transactions, in circular DBR.No.Leg.BC.78/09.07.005/2017-18 dated 6 July 2017, give you a route through the bank's own grievance machinery and then to the banking ombudsman. The ombudsman route normally opens after the bank has failed to reply or has rejected the complaint, and it is cheap, paper-based and does not require a lawyer. It is a separate track from the criminal case, and it usually produces the money faster than a court.
Mistakes people make about jurisdiction
- Believing that only the police station where the transaction occurred can register the complaint. A zero FIR can be registered anywhere.
- Accepting an oral refusal to register. Ask for the reasons to be recorded in writing.
- Assuming the bank's decision is a court decision. The two run in parallel and are decided on different material.
- Suing an unknown person in the hope that the court will trace him. Civil procedure generally requires a named defendant.
- Waiting for the criminal case to end before filing the recovery suit. That can take years, and the limitation clock on the civil claim does not pause.
- Assuming the location of the card-issuing bank decides the forum. It rarely does.
When to involve a lawyer
Jurisdiction is a question worth asking early rather than late, because a case filed in the wrong place can be returned months later, and by then the transaction logs, the call records and the CCTV footage have been overwritten. If you want a first answer before you file, our outline of credit card and cyber crime services in Kolkata explains what a complaint review covers. Where the case is being heard in West Bengal, background on the courts that handle it is on our West Bengal page. A short consultation is usually enough to settle which forum has jurisdiction, which is the only question you need answered before filing.
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Call +91-9007000603 WhatsAppFrequently asked questions
Where should I file a credit card fraud complaint in India?
You may file it at any police station, because under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 information about a cognizable offence may be given irrespective of the area where the offence was committed. If the station lacks territorial jurisdiction it registers a zero FIR and transfers the papers. You should also file with the card issuer, which is a separate and faster track.
Which court has jurisdiction over a credit card fraud case?
Under section 197 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 the offence is ordinarily tried where it was committed. Where cheating was practised by electronic communication, section 202(1) allows trial by any court where the communication was sent or received, or where the property was delivered. That usually gives the victim's own city jurisdiction.
Can a Kolkata court hear a credit card fraud case where the money went to another state?
Usually yes, for two reasons. The deception was received where you were, which section 202(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita treats as a place of trial, and section 198 permits trial where an offence is committed partly in one area and partly in another. The location of the beneficiary account does not by itself remove jurisdiction.
What is a zero FIR and how does it help a credit card fraud victim?
A zero FIR is a first information report registered by a police station that does not have territorial jurisdiction over the offence, numbered zero rather than with a regular serial number, and then transferred to the station that does. It removes the excuse that the complaint cannot be taken locally and preserves the date of reporting.
Is the police complaint and the bank complaint the same case?
No. The bank claim is decided under the Reserve Bank directions on unauthorised electronic banking transactions and is enforced through the bank's grievance machinery and then the banking ombudsman. The police case is a criminal proceeding under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. They run in parallel, on different material, and neither decides the other.
Where do I sue to recover the money from a credit card fraud?
A recovery suit is a civil action, ordinarily filed where the defendant resides or carries on business, or where the cause of action arose. Because the defendant must normally be identified, the suit usually follows the investigating agency's tracing of a beneficiary account. A conviction is not required before you sue, and an acquittal does not defeat the suit.
Can a credit card fraud case go to the Calcutta High Court?
Yes, in specific situations. The High Court at Calcutta can hear a petition to quash an FIR or proceedings under section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which preserves its inherent powers, and can grant anticipatory bail under section 482 of the Sanhita. It is not, however, the court of first instance for the trial.
What happens if the police station refuses to register my credit card fraud complaint?
An officer who concludes that the information does not disclose a cognizable offence must record the reasons. Ask for those reasons in writing, escalate to the superintendent of police, and if that fails apply to a magistrate for a direction to investigate under section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which now governs magistrate-ordered investigations.
Information for general guidance only and not legal advice. Provisions cited follow the Information Technology Act 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023.
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