- This topic has 52 replies, 41 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 2 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
UHi everyone. I am in a highly frustrating situation and need some objective legal advice on how to proceed.
**The Incident (Last November):** My wife and I were stopped at a red light in our car. Another car rear-ended us at almost full speed, pushing us into the car ahead. The driver immediately tried to flee the scene but got stuck in the traffic.
While I was checking our car’s damage, my wife walked over to confront the driver. When I caught up to her, the other party was arguing aggressively with her, and the driver was literally casually eating an egg roll while doing so. My car was badly damaged, so we called the police.
**The Police & The FIRs:** The police arrived and heavily pushed us to settle on the spot. However, the other party was incredibly arrogant and showed zero remorse, so we refused to settle. After a lot of arguing with reluctant police officers, we managed to file an FIR.
In retaliation, the other party filed a counter-FIR against me.
**The Current Situation & The Lawyer:** Because of the counter-FIR, I had to secure bail. We hired a local lawyer, but the experience has been terrible:
1. **The Stance:** From day one, he told us that filing the FIR was a “mistake.” He is constantly pushing us to do a **”no money settlement”** with the other party—meaning we both just drop the cases against each other and we bear the total cost of our own car’s damage.
2. **The Fees:** He is milking us. He charges ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 every single time we visit his chamber or go to court, even for minor updates.
3. **The Delays:** My wife has been called to court multiple times to record her statement under Section 183 BNSS (164 CrPC). However, every single time we go, the court changes the plan or adjourns at the last minute. We pay the lawyer for the visit, but nothing gets done.We are exhausted, bleeding money, and it feels like the system is punishing us for being the victims of a crash.
**My Questions for the Lawyers Here:**
1. **Was filing the FIR actually a mistake?** Should we have just settled, or is our lawyer just trying to take the easy way out while collecting consultation fees?
2. **Are these constant fees normal?** Is it standard practice in Kolkata for lawyers to charge ₹2k-₹5k for every single chamber visit?
3. **How do we handle the 183 BNSS (164 CrPC) delays?** Is there any way to ensure her statement actually gets recorded the next time she is called, or are we at the absolute mercy of the court schedule?
4. **Should we change lawyers?** Or will a new lawyer just restart the billing cycle from scratch?
5. **How does a “no money settlement” actually work legally?** If we do agree to this mutual compromise to end the headache, what is the exact legal process for mutually dropping FIRs (e.g., High Court quashing), and how much does *that* usually cost?Any advice on how to navigate this mess without going broke would be deeply appreciated. Thank you.
-
BYou need to find better lawyer , and lawyer fees be taken from settlement from the other guy . Get the footage from traffic light , case closed
-
UOther party hasn’t even tried to reach out for settlement. However the way it’s going, I don’t think anything will happen within 4 years.
-
-
-
A1. no. you did the right thing.
2. I practise in delhi. I don’t know how things work in kolkata. I take a one time fee to handle the case from start to finish. Extra if the case drags too long or if there are other expenses. Some lawyers do charge a conferencing fee. I don’t. Every lawyer has his own method of charging clients.
3. ask your advocate to file an application pointing out the urgency.
4. yeah. pushing for a no money settlement at this stage makes zero sense.
5. FIRs once filed need to be quashed. A case for quashing will be filed before the HC. You’ll have to hire an advocate who appears there. Your lawyer, and the opposite party’s lawyer will make a joint submission stating that the parties have entered into a compromise. Again, I don’t know how much it costs in Kolkata, but in Delhi, I charge 75,000 to 1,00,000 for a 482 application.-
UIf I completely refuse to settle, how difficult is it to fight a retaliatory cross-FIR in the regular magistrate court? Given the strict background checks in corporate consulting roles, does having this pending counter-FIR create issues for employment verifications or travel while the trial drags on?
-
Adepends on the facts of the case.
yes, it does come with travel issues.
also, why aren’t you getting his FIR quashed?
-
UOh, I didn’t even know that was an option! Thank you so much for letting me know this.
I did some quick research (asked Gemini), and it looks like quashing an FIR means I will have to approach the High Court under Section 528 BNSS (the old 482 CrPC). Is that correct?
If I go down this route instead of fighting it out in the lower court:
1. **The Process:** What does the timeline and actual process look like practically? Will I need to attend High Court hearings regularly, or does the advocate handle most of it?
2. **The Cost:** Since I need to hire a High Court advocate here in Kolkata for this, what is a realistic, ballpark estimate for the total cost to get a retaliatory FIR quashed? I just want to mentally prepare for the budget before I start interviewing new lawyers.Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction, this is incredibly helpful.
-
A> Is that correct?
yes
1. 6-10 months max. No, the advocate will handle it.
2. In Delhi, I’d charge 75,000 to 1,00,000 for a case like this. Don’t know the norm in Kolkata. Being said, fees differ wildly from lawyer to lawyer. Shop for a lawyer within your budget. -
-
-
-
-
-
U1. No
2.No, ideally contact a lawyer with a fixed fee which can be paid in parts.
3. Press the judge to get it recorded, the Public prosecutors will not be serious till your lawyers makes them act serious.
4. Ideally, yes!
5. Do not do it, strategically discuss the case with a lawyer and assess your ROI! Besides, you can get your FIR quashed and let the one your registered continue. Counter-cases are often frowned upon but what would matter is the detail!
Who filed first, the gap in both FIRs, witnesses involved, similarity in fact, prima facie allegations amongst other!-
UThank you so much for the detailed and clear answers. Your 5th point is exactly what I needed to hear, but I have a few follow-up questions on how that actually works practically.
Regarding getting *their* counter-FIR quashed while keeping *ours* active:
1. **The Timeline:** We definitely filed our FIR first on the day of the incident (despite the police reluctance). Theirs was filed afterward purely in retaliation. Does the fact that we were the ‘first informants’ give us a very strong ground in the High Court to prove theirs is a malicious counter-case?
2. **Assessing ROI:** When you mention ROI, what should my end-game look like here? Since my car suffered heavy damage, should the strategy be: quash their fake FIR in the Court, and then use our genuine, active FIR in the lower court to pressure them into paying for my car damages to finally close the matter? -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
UThis angered me so much.
OP are you a complete naive moron?
It took me 2 secs with a long press of home button to summon gemini.
The text in the image refers to sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), a law in India that replaced the Indian Penal Code.
Section 115(2) BNS: Pertains to voluntarily causing hurt. It is a non-cognizable and bailable offense, meaning police generally cannot arrest without a warrant, and bail can be granted by a magistrate.
Section 351(2) BNS: Relates to criminal intimidation or threatening behavior.
Section 126(2) BNS: Relates to wrongful restraint.
Mind you I’m not even stuck in a month’s long legal battle.
Your lawyers and everyone else is rightfully fleecing you.
Move back into your parents home asap.
-
-
-
-
UThat thought has definitely crossed my mind, especially since he’s pushing so hard for a settlement that only benefits the other side while he keeps collecting appearance fees from us.
If I decide to pull the plug and change my counsel, how difficult is the actual legal process? I’ve heard I need to get a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) from him on the Vakalatnama. What happens if he creates a fuss, demands a huge exit fee, or outright refuses to give the NOC?
Also, when I go looking for a new advocate, what specific green flags should I be looking for? Are there specific questions I should ask upfront to ensure they won’t just trap me in the same per-hearing billing cycle or collude with the local police?
-
-
-
-
LNot to discourage you.as a common man I’m saying this. If I didn’t have a good legal backup frd. I won’t enter this kind of legal battles.. Just forgot.. Who is right or wrong.. Because of this you lost ur peace and money.. My pov peace is important.. Try to get settlement from other side including damages and legal fees..if they are not settling as u said the mistake is with other party side fight till end…All the best.
-
-
-
-
-
UWell you could have paid for your car damage via your insurance and your next year premium would have gone up. You could have asked him to pay the difference. It would have closed in few thousands.
-
-
-
-
-
-
NPeople here on reddit always keep advising to file a police case for every accident, but in reality, this is what happens. Common people, with jobs dont have time, energy and money to waste on such things, we already have a lot of issues in life.
This is what zero dep insurance is for. To cover for the damages and just get the repairs done.
As long as no physical injury has happened, there is no point in filing a police case just because the other party was arrogant.
Police was also advising you to settle because they know the reality, not because they were with the other party.
People must stop putting their ego above everything and start using their brains.
-
UI believe there’s more to the story that OP’s not comfortable to share.. his wife jumping into fight and other party filing case on her, OP getting pre bail etc.
And you’re right here, we’re all already fkd up with our busy lives and sometimes settling at the incident sounds more reasonable specially when you have zero dip. My cousin’s 2 weeks old nexon got rear ended by a truck at traffic signal.. police pulled both parties aside and asked us to settle there itself. My cousin insisted on filing case etc but we compromised him to not. We called truck’s owner and shared pics.. demanded him to pay compensation even though he tried to dodge saying we have insurance. He ended up paying 6k. Company replaced whole boot door and bumper under insurance, my cousin had to pay 1200 something for claim processing charges.
-
-
-
-
SNAL
Filing FIR was a mistake in practical terms (based on what I was advised in similar situation) .
Legal cases do take time and are frustrating. I was in court in unrelated matter and saw a couple who has been coming to court for last 7 years for an accident case. In their case a false allegation was put on them because they refused to settle when during a u turn their car hit a motorcycle.
On statement recording , your lawyer seems to be incompetent. Unless opposing party advocate has been raising issues or other technical issues, her statement should have been recorded.
-
-
-
-
Ucan u mention what is the counter FIR that he made against u?
All i can say is dont waste time just get out of it, anyways u had ur insurance right
these ppl are very used to damaging others cars and they have experience that nothing happens
couple of months back, a dumper crashed into my car from behind that too!! my good luck was that it happened in front of traffic police, i also took my police friends help, and u know how dumper owners are, garbage business garbage ppl, chhapri types, initially police my side, later on they were just neutral ,he was insisting he will cover all via his thirdparty, i wanted nothing of that sort, i simply took a few thousand from him and used my own insurance
-
SWell, coincidentally someone I know very closely encountered a similar accident in Kerala, their vehicle stopped at red signal a bolero pickup rear ended them causing significant damage. The driver was a TN commerical driver didn’t had any money so they’ve reached out to nearby police station who also calmly advised not to go with FIR as it will drag in court process. My friend didn’t had any intention to go to court either even though we didn’t commit any mistake, commercial driver owner was kind enough to understand the mistake to settle for an amount that the insurance won’t pay. My friend had own damage nil depreciation insurance to cover the damage (that’s what insurance company is for). If he had proceeded with FIR I might’ve shared this in reddit. Hope you consider repairing your vehicle in priority if nobody is injured.
-
-
-
-
UIn our country, finding FIR is always a bad idea. Now you have a first hand experience of it. FIR and courtrooms are for ultra wealthy who can pay and hire the best lawyers, and the lawyers take care of everything without causing any hassle to them.
What counter FIRs they have done against you? You can apply for quashing of FIR on the basis that it was registered as retaliation by the other party and is not genuine. I am not a lawyer and do not know how it works, but have heard this is an option in case of false FIRs.
-
-
-
-
