Charge-sheet And Closure Report

Charge- sheet:-

 Meaning
Under sec 173 of CrPC, the police officer is under obligation to file a final report after
making the necessary investigation, this is known as charge-sheet. This report
contains materials regarding investigation, evidences collected and submitted etc.
This report is then submitted to a competent magistrate who will take cognizance of
the case based upon the report submitted by the officer in charge. The charge-sheet
also acts as a report which informs the magistrate whether the allegations made
against the accused are fair or malicious, and this observation is based upon the
evidence found during investigation.

 Particulars of a police report:-

a. Name of the parties
b. Nature of information
c. Names of the person who are familiar with the case
d. Whether any crime have been committed or not, and if so, then by whom
e. Whether the accused has been arrested
f. Whether he has released on bail, and is so, with or without sureties
g. Whether he has been sent to custody with compliance to sec 170

 In case of non- cognizable cases:- In case of non- cognizable cases, it is

mandatory for a police officer to a file a final report and send it to a competent
magistrate under sec 173.

In the case of RP kapoor vs. State of Punjab, the court held that the chargesheet
should be submitted to the magistrate as soon as the investigation is completed
without any unnecessary delays. In cases where the investigating officer finds that
there is no proof regarding the commission of the offence, or if the the offence in
question is based upon false facts then he need not file any report.

On filing of the charge-sheet the accused may be released on bond under sec 173(4).
All the relevant documents along with the witness testimony must be sent to the
magistrate

In the case Bhagwant singh vs Commissioner of Police and Anr. the supreme
court held that in cases where the magistrate does not find sufficient evidences in
support of the allegations made, he can drop the case but it is on the discretion of
the court if they want to give the informant the opportunity to be heard at the time of
filing of the report.
 Procedure of filing a charge-sheet:-

 Filing of First Information Report:

In case of cognizable cases, the police officer is under obligation to record
information in written form regarding the commission of any offence sec
154(i). In case of non- cognizable cases, the police officer shall record the
information in a separate book which is for this purpose only and direct the
complainant to a competent magistrate under sec 155(1).
 Initiation of investigation: cognizable offence
In these cases, the police officer can start the investigation without the
permission of the magistrate. And if evidence is found upon investigation that
the said offence has taken place, the officer in charge may file a charge-sheet
and forward it to the magistrate who can then take cognizance.
 Initiation of investigation: non-cognizable offence
In these cases, the police officer must refer the informant to a competent
magistrate and further investigation shall be made after the approval of the
magistrate.

Closure report:-

 Meaning:
Section 169 of Crpc states that closure report is a report which is submitted by the
investigating authority or the officer in charge to the magistrate stating that no
sufficient evidence has been found in favour of the claims of the informant or there
are no sufficient grounds to carry forward the accused in front of the magistrate and
then the concerned authority can release the accused from custody on bond, with or
without surety.

 Procedure after the closure report is submitted:

After the closure report is submitted to the magistrate, it is his discretion if he wants
to take cognizance of the case depending upon the findings of the case. If the
magistrate thinks that there is sufficient grounds then under sec 204 of Crpc he can
issue the proceedings. In the case of Sri Indranil mukherjee vs The state of
West Bengal, it was held that even if the report states that there is no case to be
made, even then the magistrate has the power to reject it and take cognizance of
the case and order further investigation under Sec 173(8).