CRPC 13
• Attendance & examination 160-161 (powers to
investigate)
• Attendance of Witnesses
• The police officer making the investigation is
empowered under Section 160 to require the
attendance of any person as a witness who is acquainted
with the facts and circumstances of the case. The above-
mentioned section also provides that no male person or
woman who is under the age of fifteen years shall be
required to attend any place other than the one in which
the male person or women resides. The State
Government shall make rules for the payment of
reasonable expenses incurred by persons for attending
any place other than their residence.
• Examination of Witnesses
• Any police officer who is in charge of the investigation or any other
officer who is acting on the request of an officer in charge shall and
is empowered to examine a witness or person who is acquainted or
aware of the facts and circumstances of the case put before him.
• Section 161 of the Code confers powers on police to examine
witnesses. The statements of witnesses are important as they can
make a person guilty or innocent. The persons who are being
investigated are expected and bound to answer truly all the
questions relating to such cases put before them. They are not
bound to truly answer the questions which would expose them to a
criminal charge or any other charge.
• After the examination, the police officer making the investigation
shall reduce the number of statements given by the person in the
course of the examination. And if done so, he shall keep a separate
record of the same. He is not bound to reduce the statements into
writing but it is preferred that he does so.
• Statements & confessions 162 - 164
• Sec 162-Statements to the Police not to be Signed
• The statements made by the witnesses during examination
need not be signed by him. Neither should be used at any
inquiry or trial. The statements made by the witness can be
used in the court only to contradict him, and not corroborate
him. If the witness is brought from the prosecution side, any
part of his statement if proved may be used by the accused
and can be used by the prosecution only with the Court’s
permission, to contradict him. That is, statements made
under Section 161 can be used to contradict him.
• However, an exception to the above section is: If any
statement falls within the provision of Section 32(1) of the
Indian Evidence Act, or if any statement affects the
provisions of Section 27 of the Evidence Act.
• Recording of Confessions and Statements
• Any magistrate whether metropolitan or judicial, if he has
jurisdiction or not in the case, is empowered under Section
164 to record any statement or confession made to him in
the course of the investigation. But a police officer on whom
powers of a magistrate have been conferred for the time
being is not empowered to record the same.
• The magistrate, before recording the statement is required to
explain it to the person giving the statement that he is not
bound to give it and the statements can be used as evidence
against him. The magistrate has to make sure that the person
making the confession is doing it voluntarily.
• The Magistrate cannot authorize the detention of that
person in police custody if the person refuses to give a
statement at any time before the confession is recorded.
• Admissibility of Evidence
• The confession recorded under section 164 can be used as
substantive evidence, without being formally proved. Record of
such confession is admissible as evidence. Entire confession must
be brought on record. The Court must carefully weigh it with
other evidence. The Court may reject part of it.. Where the
confession was found rejected, the convictions based on them
could not be sustained.
• Non-confessional statements recorded under section 164 is not
substantive evidence. But if the maker of the statement is called
as a witness in the trial, his earlier statement can be used for
contradicting his testimony in the Court under section 145 and
157 of the Evidence Act.
• In Balak Ram v. The State of U.P., it was held that evidence of
witness cannot be discarded merely because their statement was
recorded under section 164. Their evidence must be approached
with caution.
• Section 164A – Medical examination of the victim of rape
• Where, during the stage when an offence of committing rape or attempt to commit rape is under investigation, it is
proposed to get the person of the woman with whom rape is alleged or attempted to have been committed or
attempted, examined by a medical expert, such examination shall be conducted by a registered medical practitioner
employed in a hospital run by the Government or a local authority and in the absence of such a practitioner, by any
other registered medical practitioner, with the consent of such woman or of a person competent to give such consent
on her behalf and such woman shall be sent to such registered medical practitioner within twenty-four hours from the
time of receiving the information relating to the commission of such offence.
• The registered medical practitioner, to whom such woman is sent shall, without delay, examine her person and
prepare a report of his examination giving the following particulars, namely-
• the name and address of the woman and of the person by whom she was brought;
• the age of the woman;
• the description of material taken from the person of the woman for DNA profiling;
• marks of injury, if any, on the person of the woman;
• general mental condition of the woman; and
• other material particulars in reasonable detail,
• The report shall state precisely the reasons for each conclusion arrived at.
• The report shall specifically record that the consent of the woman or of the person competent, to give such consent on
her behalf to such examination had been obtained.
• The exact time of commencement and completion of the examination shall also be noted in the report.
• The registered medical practitioner shall, without delay forward the report to the investigating officer who shall
forward it to the Magistrate referred to in section 173 as part of the documents referred to in clause (a) of Sub-Section
(5) of that section.
• Nothing in this section shall be construed as rendering lawful any examination without the consent of the woman or of
any person competent to give such consent on her behalf.
• Search by Police Officer
• A police officer is empowered under Section 165 of the Code to search for
any place which he has reasonable grounds to believe that contains something
necessary with respect to the investigation he is authorized to make.
• The grounds for issuing a warrant for search are provided in Section 93(1) of
the Code The search is required to be noted in a diary which is prescribed for
this purpose, by the state government.
• Procedure of Search
• A police officer has to record in writing his reasons for the search, the place to
be searched and the thing that has to be searched in that place, after which he
proceeds in person. If the police officer is unable to do the search himself, then
he may, in writing, order his subordinate officer to conduct the search,
directing him to the place to be searched and the thing to be searched for. And
the subordinate officer can then conduct the search on the basis of the written
order given to him. The officer should make a record of the search done and
send a report of the same to the nearest Magistrate who can further furnish it
to the owner/occupier of the place searched, free of cost, on application
• When Investigation is to be Done Outside India
• When the investigating officer or any of his superior
officer has reasons to believe that necessary evidence
may be available in a place or country outside India, any
criminal court shall issue a letter of request to the
authority of that country or place requesting to examine
orally the person who is supposed to be aware of the
facts and circumstances of the case and direct him to
produce all the requisite documents in his possession
relating to the case being investigated and also require
to forward all the documents and evidence to the court
issuing such letter. The provision is given under section
166.
• Procedure when Investigation cannot be Completed within 24 Hours
• Section 167 deals with the procedure when investigation cannot be
completed within 24 hours. The purpose of this section is to ensure
liberal democratic ideology. The object is to protect the accused from
atrocities of the police and to give the opportunity to the Magistrate to
decide the question of further custody, to facilitate the investigation,
and no detention without trial. For this purpose, it has been provided
that the accused or arrested person cannot be detained for more than
24 hours. Section 167 is attracted in the following circumstances:
• When the accused is arrested without a warrant and is detained by the
police officer in his custody.
• More than 24 hours needed for an investigation.
• There are grounds to believe that accusation or information against him
is well-founded.
• The officer in charge of a police station or the investigating officer not
below the rank of sub-inspector forwards the accused for remand
before the Magistrate.
• The judicial Magistrate to whom the accused is so forwarded may authorize
the detention of such person in such custody for a term not exceeding 15
days. If the Magistrate does not have the jurisdiction to try the case and
considers further detention unnecessary then the accused shall be further
forwarded to the Magistrate having jurisdiction to try the case.
• The Magistrate shall authorize the detention of the accused (but not in
police custody) if he has reasons and grounds to believe the necessity of
doing so. But in any situation, the Magistrate cannot order detention for a
period exceeding:
• 90 days, when the person is accused of an offence punishable with
imprisonment for a period not less than 10 years of imprisonment for life or
death.
• 60 days, when accused of any other offence. And on the expiry of the
period of 60 days or 90 days, whatever the case may be, he shall be
released on bail if he is able to furnish sureties.
• This period is to be calculated from the date of detention and not from the
date of arrest.
• If the Judicial Magistrate is absent, the Executive Magistrate or the
Metropolitan Magistrate on whom the powers of a Judicial Magistrate
have been conferred for the time being will act. The Executive
Magistrate shall order for detention for a period not exceeding 7 days.
If further detention is to be made, the accused shall be forwarded to
the competent Magistrate.
• If the order is given by any Magistrate other than the Chief Judicial
Magistrate, he shall forward a copy of his orders also stating the
reasons for making so, to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
• In a Summons Case, if the investigation is not complete within 6
months, the Magistrate is required to order to stop the investigation
unless he has reasons and grounds to believe that further investigation
is necessary for the interest of justice. If the Magistrate has ordered to
stop the investigation and an application is made to the Sessions judge
against the order, then the sessions judge is empowered under Section
167(6) to discard the order given by the Magistrate under subsection
5, if reasonable grounds exist for doing so.
• Procedure to be followed on completion of Investigation (s.169-s.173)
• On completion of the investigation, the following procedure is to be
followed:
• Release of accused when evidence is deficient (169)
• When there is not sufficient evidence and reasonable grounds to justify
the forwarding of the accused to the Magistrate, the police officer shall
release him on him executing a bond, with or without sureties, and may
direct him to appear before the magistrate when required.
• Cases to be sent to Magistrate when evidence sufficient(170)
• When the police officer has sufficient evidence and reasonable
grounds, he shall forward the accused to the Magistrate, so that the
Magistrate can take cognizance of the offence and try the accused or
commit him for trial. If the offence is bailable, the accused shall be
given security and be released on bail, only to appear before the
Magistrate when required, and for his day to day attendance before the
Magistrate
• Diary of proceedings in an investigation (section 172)
• This section relates to the contents of a case diary, which every police officer
making an investigation has to maintain. The object of this section is to
enable the Magistrate to know what was the day to day information by a
police officer who was investigating the case. Oral statements of witnesses
should not be recorded in this case diary. This diary may be used at trial or
inquiry, not as evidence, but to assist the court in proceeding with the case.
• Report of police on completion of the investigation
• Final report of a police officer after the completion of the investigation is to
be sent to the Magistrate under Section 173. This report is generally called a
“Chargesheet” or “Challan”.
• Where a superior officer has been appointed by the State government, the
report shall be sent by him to the Magistrate. And while the orders of the
Magistrate are pending, he shall direct further investigation to the officer in
charge of the police station.
• If according to the police officer, a part of the statement in the report
submitted by him is not relevant, he shall request the Magistrate to exclude
that part and not consider it. Also, further investigation can be made even
after the submission of the report to the Magistrate.
• Power to Summon Persons
• This section empowers the police to summon witnesses
at the inquest to testify the injuries which the
investigating officer has found on the body of the
deceased person. But it is not at all necessary for him to
record the statements of the witnesses or get the inquest
report signed by them. The person examined at an
inquest is bound to answer truly all the questions except
those which would be incriminating him. Refusal to
answer questions is punishable under Section 179 IPC and
deliberately giving a false answer is punishable under
Section 193 of IPC. The inquest report is not substantive
evidence but may be used for corroborating the evidence
given by the police officer making the inquest report.
