Allahabad High Court Ruled : Police Officer Can Conduct Further Investigation After Filing The Charge Sheet Without Permission Of Magistrate

The Allahabad High Court recently ruled that a Police Officer can conduct further investigations in cognizable cases on his own initiative and no permission of the Magistrate is required for conducting further investigations.

The bench of Justice Anjani Kumar Mishra and Justice Deepak Verma made this observation while hearing a writ petition filed by Subodh Kumar Jain, who sought the quashing of a FIR registered under Sections 392, 411 I.P.C. 

The petitioner’s counsel argued that once a charge sheet was filed and cognizance was taken, the investigation was over.

Following that, it was not permissible for the police to continue the investigation without the permission of the Magistrate in question, and because no such permission was ever sought, the police’s actions amounted to harassment of the petitioner beyond the scope of the law. 

The A.G.A., on the other hand, argued that there is no need to seek permission because the police have unrestricted powers of investigation and that the investigation can continue even after the charge sheet has been submitted and cognizance has been taken.

At the outset, the Court stated that no permission from the Magistrate in question is required for further investigation.

In fact, the Court added, a plain reading of Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shows that nothing prevents further investigation into an offence after a report under Section 173 (2) Cr.P.C. has been forwarded to the Magistrate. 

The Court rules that according to the language of Section 173 (8), it is implicit that a Police Officer can conduct additional investigations in cognizable cases on his or her own initiative.

Otherwise, he can conduct further investigation under Section 156 (1), and in non-cognizable cases, he cannot do so once the order of Section 156 (1) has been passed by the Magistrate.

The Court added that the police have unrestricted investigative powers, and such powers can be exercised even after a charge-sheet has been filed under Section 173 (2) Cr.P.C. and cognizance has been taken. Even after that, no permission from the Magistrate is required to conduct further investigation.

The writ petition was thus dismissed.