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Section156
Crpc 1973

Police officer's power to investigate cognizable case

Repealed Act 2 of 1974 As on 19 Oct 2026

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so the text below was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Act 2 of 1974 Cited by 1 provision

This is a second copy of a Central Act. India Code files it on Rajasthan's shelf as well as under Parliament, and the text is the same enactment. Read it at The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which is the record this site keeps current.

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so this text was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Section 156 of Crpc 1973 deals with police officer's power to investigate cognizable case. Any officer in charge of a police station may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any cognizable case which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of such station would have power to inquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XIII.

(1) Any officer in charge of a police station may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any cognizable case which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of such station would have power to inquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XIII.

(2) No proceeding of a police officer in any such case shall at any stage be called in question on the ground that the case was one which such officer was not empowered under this section to investigate.

(3) Any Magistrate empowered under section 190 may order such an investigation as above-mentioned. STATE AMENDMENT Maharashtra Amendment of section 156 .- In section 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, (2 of 1974) in its application to the State of Maharashtra (Hereinafter referred to as "the said Code"), after sub-section (3), the following provisos shall be added, namely :- "Provided that, no Magistrate shall order an investigation under this section against a person who is or was a public servant as defined under any other law for the time being in force, in respect of the act done by such public servant while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duties, except with the previous sanction under section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) or under any law for the time being in force:

Provided further that, the sanctioning authority shall take a decision within a period of ninety days from the date of the receipt of the proposal for sanction and in case the sanctioning authority fails to take the decision within the said stipulated period of ninety days, the sanction shall be deemed to have been accorded by the sanctioning authority.". [Vide Maharashtra Act 33 of 2016, s. 2.]

Section 156, Crpc 1973 (Act 2 of 1974).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

  1. s. 190 Cognizance of offences by Magistrates

Referred to by 1

  1. s. 157 Procedure for investigation

Questions about Section 156

What does Section 156 of the Crpc 1973 deal with?

Section 156 of the Crpc 1973 is headed "Police officer's power to investigate cognizable case". Any officer in charge of a police station may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any cognizable case which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of such station would have power to inquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XIII.

How do I find court cases under Section 156 of the Crpc 1973?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: CRPC 1973 156, section 156 CRPC 1973, section 156 of the Crpc 1973. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Section 156 of the Crpc 1973, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 190 (Cognizance of offences by Magistrates), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it.

When was the Crpc 1973 enacted?

Crpc 1973 was enacted in 1974 as Act 2 of 1974. India Code records no commencement date for it. It is no longer in force.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Read from the Government's own scanned gazette with Azure Document Intelligence, then split into sections by their numbering. India Code publishes no text for this Act. The scan itself is mirrored into our own storage and served at /scan/d6704d19-8614-4131-9317-7b9b9809d0c5.pdf, so the reading here can be checked against the page it came from without depending on India Code's own copy staying where it is (it was at https://indiacode.gov.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/e65f6054-803f-42a5-9f41-bd7fbeabcb51/content). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.