How Police Must Conduct Inquiry Under Section 202 Cr.P.C. and Its Duty Explained

When a Magistrate receives a private criminal complaint, a critical procedural question arises: how is the police supposed to conduct the inquiry under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and what exactly is the duty of the police while doing so? This question matters because the inquiry at this stage determines whether an accused — sometimes living far away from the court — will be summoned and put to the hardship of facing trial, or whether a meritless complaint will be filtered out at the threshold.

What Section 202 Is Designed to Achieve

Section 202 Cr.P.C. permits a Magistrate to postpone the issue of process against the accused and, in the meantime, either conduct an inquiry personally or direct an investigation by a police officer or another designated person. The provision is an enabling mechanism — it exists so that the court can reach a reasoned conclusion on whether summonses are genuinely warranted 2023 0 Supreme(UK) 236.

Courts have repeatedly described the provision as a protective filter. Where the accused resides outside the Magistrate's territorial jurisdiction, compliance with Section 202 is generally treated as mandatory, precisely to shield innocent persons from false or frivolous complaints and the harassment of unnecessary litigation 2017 0 Supreme(Bom) 2581. Failure to hold this inquiry before issuing process has led higher courts to set aside summoning orders as unsustainable in law

Asma w/o Moinoddin @ Shaker Quazi vs The State of Maharashtra Through Police Inspector, Police Station, Udgir, Dist. Latur

The Limited Scope of the Inquiry

The scope of the inquiry is deliberately narrow. As one judgment summarized:

The scope of enquiry under this section is restricted only to find out the truth or otherwise of the allegations made in the complaint in order to determine whether process has to be issued or not. 2012 0 Supreme(SC) 855

Key characteristics of this stage include:

• It is a limited judicial exercise, not a trial and not a full-scale evaluation of evidence.
• The object is to decide whether a prima facie case exists — whether there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused.
• No specific mode or manner of inquiry is prescribed by the section, giving the Magistrate flexibility in how the truth or falsity of allegations is tested 2023 0 Supreme(Cal) 123 and 2023 0 Supreme(All) 44.
• The Magistrate is duty-bound to scrutinize the complaint material and record satisfaction before summoning anyone 2023 0 Supreme(All) 1724.

Because the inquiry is meant to assist judicial satisfaction rather than build a prosecution file, it does not require the Magistrate to collect material that was never placed before him 2023 0 Supreme(All) 1724, and the accused typically has no right to intervene or participate at this pre-summoning stage.

The Role and Duty of the Police in a Section 202 Inquiry

When the Magistrate chooses not to hold the inquiry personally and instead directs the police, the officer's role must be understood correctly. The police officer acts as an investigative arm of the Magistrate — gathering facts to help the court form an opinion, not conducting an ordinary investigation of a cognizable offence under Section 156.

Several duties and limitations flow from this position:

1. Acting under the Magistrate's direction. The officer investigates to enable the Magistrate to decide whether or not there is sufficient ground for him to proceed further 2012 0 Supreme(SC) 855. The inquiry is qualitatively different from an investigation under Section 156.

2. Powers available during the inquiry. Where the investigation is made by a person who is not a police officer, that person enjoys all the powers conferred by the Code on an officer in charge of a police station except the power to arrest without warrant2024 0 Supreme(Bom) 866. This underscores that the Section 202 stage is not meant for coercive action against the accused.

3. Assisting, not deciding. The police report under Section 202 is only an aid to the Magistrate's judicial satisfaction. The Magistrate cannot delegate the final decision; he or she must independently apply judicial mind to the report and the complaint material before either issuing process under Section 204 or dismissing the complaint under Section 203 2024 0 Supreme(Bom) 65.

4. Faithful and complete fact-finding. Courts expect the officer directed under Section 202 to genuinely inquire into the truth or otherwise of the allegations. A token report, or reliance on a cursory police inquiry that amounts to nothing, risks rendering the subsequent summoning order vulnerable 2015 0 Supreme(Bom) 1260.

In practice, the direction order should clearly state that the purpose of the police inquiry is to assist the Magistrate in determining whether sufficient grounds exist to proceed — a safeguard practitioners recommend embedding in the record.

Situations Where Police Direction Is Not Permitted

There are important statutory limits on the Magistrate's choice:

• Offences triable exclusively by the Court of Session. Under the proviso to Section 202(2), the Magistrate cannot direct a police investigation for such offences and must conduct the inquiry personally 2024 0 Supreme(Bom) 65 and 2018 0 Supreme(Ori) 456.
• Interaction with parallel police investigation. Where a police investigation into the same or connected facts is already underway, the Magistrate conducting a Section 202 inquiry must be mindful of Section 210(1) Cr.P.C.; issuing process while a police investigation is pending, without following the prescribed course, has been held to contravene the statute 1998 0 Supreme(Raj) 26.
• No reversion after cognizance. Section 202 operates at a post-cognizance, pre-process stage. A Magistrate who has already taken cognizance and proceeded under Chapter XV cannot switch back to the pre-cognizance route of Section 156(3)

  Vinisha Sawant VS Mahendra Sawant - Bombay (2024)

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Consequences of Skipping or Mishandling the Inquiry

The jurisprudence on this point is consistent:

• Summons issued against accused residing beyond the Magistrate's jurisdiction, without the mandatory inquiry, have been set aside and matters remanded for a fresh Section 202 inquiry 2017 0 Supreme(Bom) 2581.
• Where neither the Magistrate held an inquiry nor directed police investigation, the summoning order has been characterized as an abuse of the process of law 2023 0 Supreme(Cal) 123.
• Conversely, where the record shows the Magistrate did conduct the inquiry and recorded satisfaction before summoning, the order survives challenge 2023 0 Supreme(All) 1724.

Practical Takeaways

For complainants, the inquiry stage is an opportunity to place credible supporting material before the court so the police report reflects the true state of affairs. For accused persons, it is a crucial shield — non-compliance with Section 202, especially where territorial jurisdiction is lacking, is a recognised ground to challenge a summoning order. And for the police, the duty is clear: inquire honestly, gather facts relevant to the truth of the allegations, refrain from arrest-oriented action, and leave the ultimate judicial determination where it belongs — with the Magistrate. Every case turns on its own facts, so anyone dealing with a Section 202 inquiry should seek advice tailored to their specific situation.