Honble REDDI, J.– Leave granted.

(2). Whether the High Court was justified in quashing the criminal proceedings on the ground that the police officer, who laid/recorded the FIR regarding the suspected commission of certain cognizable offences by the respondent should not have investigated the case and submitted the final report? That is the question which arises for consideration in this appeal filed by the State. On 9.9.1996, the Inspector of Police (Vigilance & Anti- Corruption), Tirucharapalli on the basis of the information received that the respondent-accused was indulging in corrupt practices by extracting money from the drivers and owners of the motor vehicles while conducting check of the vehicles and making use of certain bogus notice forms in the process, prepared the First Information Report, registered the crime under Sections 420, 201 IPC and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. A copy of the FIR was submitted to the Court of CJM- cum-Special Judge, Tirucharapalli. He then proceeded to take up investigation, gathered information, examined the witnesses and filed the charge-sheet in the Court together with a list of documents including the police notice books and hand-writing experts reports. The respondent was implicated for the offences under Sections 465, 468 IPC and Section 7 and 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of P.C. Act. The respondent-accused then moved the High Court of Madras to quash the proceedings. The learned Judge of the High Court, relying on the decision of this Court in Megha Singh vs. State of Haryana (1), and two other decisions of the Madras High Court, allowed the application and quashed the proceedings. This is what the learned Judge observed:

"In view of the consistent rulings of the Supreme Court and of this Court, I am obliged to hold that the very same police officer who registered the case by lodging a first information ought not to have investigated the case and that itself had caused prejudice to the accused. "

(3). We have no hesitation in holding that the approach of the High Court is erroneous and its conclusion legally unsustainable. There is nothing in the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code which precluded the appellant (Inspector of Police, Vigilance) from taking up the investigation. The fact that the said police officer prepared the FIR on the basis of the information received by him and registered the suspected crime does not, in our view, disqualify him from taking up the investigation of the cognizable offence. A suo motu move on the part of the police officer to investigate a cognizable offence impelled by the information received from some sources is not outside the purview of the provisions contained in Sections 154 to 157 of the Code or any other provisions of the Code. The scheme of Sections 154, 156 and 157 was clarified thus by Subba Rao, J. speaking for the Court in State of U.P. vs. Bhagwant Kishore (2).

"Section 154 of the Code prescribes the mode of recording the information received orally or in writing by an officer in charge of a police station in respect of the commission of a cognizable offence. Section 156 thereof authorizes such an officer to investigate any cognizable offence prescribed therein.

(4). Though ordinarily investigation is undertaken on information received by a police officer, the receipt of information is not a condition precedent for investigation. Section 157 prescribes the procedure in the matter of such an investigation which can be initiated either on information or otherwise. It is clear from the said provisions that an officer in charge of a police station can start investigation either on information or otherwise."

(5). In fact, neither the High Court found nor any argument was addressed to the effect that there is a statutory bar against the police officer who registered the FIR on the basis of the information received taking up the investigation.

(6). Though there is no such statutory bar, the prem

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