POLICE REGULATIONS, BENGAL. PART 8

III. —INVESTIGATTON.

252. (a) The general responsibility for all investigations within the limits of his jurisdiction will rest with the senior Sub-Inspector of the Police-station.

• No officer of lower rank than a Sub-inspector shall be employed in investigation of criminal cases except in unavoidable emergencies when an Assistant Sub-Inspector may be so employed as laid down in regulation 207 (c).

253. When an offence is reported the investigating officer shall consult all registers which are likely to assist him in his investigation, particularly the Village Crime Note-Book, before proceeding to investigate.
254. (a) Any officer in charge of a police-station may, under section 157(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, refrain altogether from investigating a case in which there appears to him to be insufficient ground or investigating.

(b) Police Officers shall observe the following broad principles in exercising the discretion vested in them by section 157(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure —

1. Every cognizable offence, other than one of those enumerated in clause II below, shall ordinarily be investigated, if the informant so desires. If for any special reason no investigation is made, the special reason shall be recorded.
2. No investigation shall ordinarily be made in—

• cases in which the injured person does not wish for an enquiry, unless the offence has occurred in a crime centre or appears to be really serious, or may reasonably be suspected to be the work of a professional or habitual offender or a member of a criminal tribe known to be addicted to crime, or unless it is otherwise desirable in the interests of the public that the case shall be investigated.
• cases which, after consideration of the information and of anything which the informant may have to say. appear to fall under section 95, Indian Penal Code; and
• cases in which the information shows the case to be a purely civil nature, i.e., where the important is apparently seeking to take advantage of a petty or technical offence to bring into the criminal courts a matter which ought properly to be decided by the civil courts.

These instructions indicate only general principle, and police officers shall exercise their discretion in every cognizable case that is reported to them.

NOTE.—In the cases referred to in clause It (iii) above, the points to be considered are whether the complainant can obtain adequate redress from the courts by instituting a prosecution. and whether action on the part of the police is expedient for the preservation of order. When the charge is of enticing away a girl (section 363, Indian Penal Code, and cognate sections), the police should be careful to ascertain that the case is not one of elopement or of girl running away to her parents on account of illtrement, and in cases of cattle theft that it is not a mere dispute as to ownership, or as to the payment of the price of ~in animal purchased.

(c) In cases where investigation is refused the complainant or informant shall be informed in B. P. Form No. 37A of the fact and of the reasons for abstention.

255. If the Officer-in-charge of a police-station decides that an investigation is necessary, after dispatching a first information report, he shall himself proceed to the spot or depute a subordinate to hold an enquiry, who shall not be below the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector.

In a case where the complaint is not of a serious nature, and is made against a person known. clause (a) of section 157. Code of Criminal Procedure, does away with the legal necessity for a local investigation, but it is very seldom that advantage should he taken of this section. In rural areas, it is permissible only when a case of a simple nature is brought to the police complete, the complete, the complainant and witnesses being present. In towns, the investigation may be conducted at the police station if it is close to the scene of crime.

256. Subject to the provisions of section 156, Code of Criminal Procedure, no station officer may be deputed to undertake the duties of or conduct a special enquiry in, the jurisdiction of another police: station, without the sanction of the Circle Inspector or any officer of higher rank. [See regulation 189 (a).]
257. Investigating officers should carefully abstain from causing unnecessary harassment either to the parties or to the people generally. Only those persons who ~re likely to assist the inquiry materially should be summoned to attend, Where possible the investigating officer should himself go to the house of the witness to be examined. The proceedings should be as informal as possible. The questioning of witnesses should ordinarily be conducted apart, and in a manner that will not be distasteful lo them.
258. (a) The investigating officer shall, whenever possible, pursue the investigating to its completion without a break in continuity.

• The investigating officer may, for the purpose of following up any clue or conducting an enquiry which may be done more ee3ily and expeditiously in person than by correspondence, proceed beyond the limits of his intention, but he shall report his intention to the Inspector before proceeding.
• Circle Inspectors shall see that investigating officer complete their investigations as required by section 173, Code of Criminal Procedure, and that the previsions of clause (b) are not abused. If the directions in clause (a) are strictly observed, it should rarely be necessary to prolong the investigation of even the most difficult case beyond 15 days.
• The practice of delaying the submission of the final report after the completion of the local enquiry on the spot shall be discouraged. It is the duty of Superintendents and even more of Inspectors to insist that investigations in case in which the accused are known arc brought promptly to a conclusion.
• When a Magistrate forwards a complaint to the Officer-in-charge of a police-station for investigation, it shall, whenever possible, be completed within the time fixed by the Magistrate for that purpose. If this is not possible, the investigating officer shall, in any event report by the prescribed date the progress made and the date by which be expects to complete the investigation.

The same procedure shall .be followed ~ hen an enquiry is made into a complaint referred to the police under section 155 (1) or section 202, Code of Criminal Procedure.

259. Directly an accused person is placed under arrest, the investigation officer shall ask him whether he has any complaint to make of ill treatment by the police, and shall enter in the case dearly the question and answer, If an allegation of ill-treatment, and shall record the result of his examination. he shall further consider and note whether there is any reason to believe that marks found are attributable to other causes than ill-treatment, such as resistance to arrest. If the prisoner refuses to allow his body to be examined, the refusal and the reason to believe the allegation of ill-treatment examination, any other evidence available, and if possible the police officers implicated by the prisoner’s complaint, to the nearest Magistrate having jurisdiction to enquire into the case.
260. (a) Section 172, Code of Criminal Procedure, prescribes the case diary which an investigating officer is bound by law to keep of his proceedings in connection with the investigation of each case.The law requires the diary to show—

• the time at which the information reached him;
• the time at which be began and closed his investigation;
• the place  or places visited by
• a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation.

Nothing which does not fall under one of the above heads need be entered, but all assistance rendered by panchayats or presidents or members of union boards shall be noted. When the information given by the panchayat or president or a member of a union board is of a confidential nature, his name shall not be entered in the case diary, but the investigating officer shall communicate his name and the same time note briefly in the case diary that this has been done.

Under heads (iii) and (iv) Shall be noted the particulars of the house searches made with the names of witnesses in whose presence search was made (section 103, Code of Criminal Procedure); by whom, at what hour, and in what place arrests were made; in what place property was found, and of what description; the facts ascertained; on what points further evidence is necessary, and what further steps are being taken with a view to complete the investigation.

The diary shall mention every clue obtained even though at the time it seems unprofitable, and every step taken by the investigating officer, but it shall be as concise as possible. The statements of witnesses examined shall be recorded in the diary, but the names of all witnesses examined shall be given. The diary shall be a record of acts done by the officer and of the facts ascertained by him, i.e., of the result of his investigation.

• A diary so composed, that is a diary which does not Contain the statement of witnesses, is privileged. The court may send for it and may use it not as evidence, but as an aid in judicial enquiry or trial, but the accused has no right to call for it or to see it, even if referred to by officer who made it to refresh his memory or when the court use it for the purpose of contradicting such officer, then the provisions of section 145 or section 161 of the Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) shall apply.

261. (a) Case diaries (B.P. Form No. 38) shall be written up as the enquiry progresses, and not at the end of each day. the hour of each entry and name of place at which written shall be given in the column on the extreme left, A note shall be made at the end of each diary of the place from, the hour at, and the means by which, it is dispatched, The place where the investigation officer halts for the night shall also be mentioned. A specimen. A specimen case diary given in Appendix XVI.

• A case diary hall be submitted in every case investigated. The diary relating to two or more days shall never be written on one sheet or dispatched together. Two or more cases should never be reported in one diary; a separate diary shall be submitted in each case daily until the enquiry is completed. But it is not necessary to send one on any day on which the investigation, though pending, is not proceeded with.
• The diary shall be written in duplicate with carbon paper. and at the close of the day the carbon copy, along with copies of any statement which may have been recorded under section 161, Code of Criminal Procedure and the list of property recovered under section 103 or 165 of that Code, shall be sent to the Circle Inspector. In subdivisions where there is a Sub-divisional Police Officer, another copy of the diary in special and misconduct report cases shall be made out by the carbon process and submitted to him. This copy shall be preserved for one year. When an investigation is controlled by an Inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department, the investigating officers shall forward the Circle Inspector’s copy of the case diary through that officer who shall stamp or write on the diary the date of receipt by him and, after perusal, forward it to the Circle Inspector.
• In special report cases an extra carbon copy shall be prepared of the diaries, statements of witnesses recorded and lists of property recovered and sent direct to the Superintendent and a further carbon copy to the Sub-divisional Police Officer where there is one.
• Each form shall have a separate printed number running consecutively throughout the book so that no two forms shall bear the same number. On the conclusion of an investigation the sheets of the original diary shall be removed from the book and filed together. Ever flue shall be docketed with the number, month and year of the first information report, the final. form submitted and the name of the complainant, the accused and the investigating officer. The orders regarding preservation and destruction of these papers shall also be noted.
• When sending chars- sheet to the Court Officer, the investigating officer shall send all his original case diaries which shall be returned by the Court Officer on the case being finally disposed or (vide regulation 772).
• Case diaries shall be written in English by those officers competent to do so. Other officers shall write either diaries in the vernacular. Statements recorded under section 161. Code of Criminal Procedure, shall, however, always be recorded in the vernacular. except when recorded by European officers.
• Instructions for the custody and dispatch of case diaries are given in regulation 68.

262. Besides the. diary an investigating officer has discretion, under section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to record or not the statement of any witness examined by him. All such statements be shined and dated by the officer recording them and, when taken in his presence, by the aspersions officer locally supervising the case, No such recorded statement shall be used for any purpose (except the following) at an enquiry into or trial of the case in which it was recorded. When. however, the witness, whose statement has been so recorded, is called for examination by the prosecution, the accused is, under section 1 62 of the Code, entitled to request the court to refer to the statement, and the court is bound to do so. The court shall also direct the accused to be furnished with a copy thereof in order that any part of such a statement, if duly proved, may be used to contradict such Witness as provided in section 145 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Only if the court considers that any portions are irrelevant or that its disclosuree is not essential to the interests of justice and is inexpedient in the public interests it shall exclude such part from the copy of the statements furnished to the accused. The rule regarding the confidential treatment of case diaries is mutates mutants applicable to statement recorded under section 161, code of Criminal procedure.
263. (a) If it is not possible to have the statement of a person whose evidence is required and who is in imminent danger of death recorded record a dying declaration, this shall be done, whenever possible, in the presence of the accused or of attesting witnesses. A dying declaration made to a police officer shall be signed by the person making it.

• If a seseriously injured person, not in imminent danger of death, is seat to hospital the investigating officer shall warn the medical officer having the person’s statement recorded by a Magistrate. should toe necessity for such a course arise.
• In case of doubt whether action under clause (a) or under clause (b)should be taken, the investigating officer shall act in accordance with clause (a).

264. It is nut for a police officer to decide whether a person charged with a cognizabte offence is or is not a lunatic. He will deal with the case if the person were sane, and if an offence he proved, will send the prisoner up for trial. But the investigating officer shall ask the court to have an enquiry made regarding the mental condition of the accused as soon as he shows signs of insanity and he shall not send up witnesses for the prosecution without previously ascertaining whether in the opinion of the court the prisoner is capable of making his defence,
265. (a) On receipt of a copy of the complaint from the Magistrate directing an investigation to be made by the police tinder section 155, Code of Criminal Procedure, in a case which is not cognizable by the Police or ordering the Police to enquire under section 202 of that Code together with the intimation of the date by which the report of the investigation or enquiry shall reach him. the poises officer concerned shall, if he is unable to report by the date fixed, send a report on or before such date explaining the delay and stating on what date the report is expected to reach him. The complainant should be informed of the date so fixed and directed to appear before the investigation officer at the scene of the scene of the occurrence.

• Sub divisional Police Officers or Circle Inspectors shall watch the working of these sections .so far as they affect the police and bring to the notice of tie Superintendent any irregular orders passed by Magistrates or the excessive use of this procedure. (see regulation 21).

269. (a) Unless the District Magistrate otherwise directs, the witnesses shall be bound down to attend before the Magistrate as soon as they ran reach his court, except when tile occurrence of a gazetted p holiday renders it improbable that the case can be heard at once, in which case they shall be bound down to appear on the morning of the next nay after the holiday or holidays. If any delay is allowed fin the convenience of the witnesses or for any other special reason, the circumstance shall be at once reported to the Magistrate.

(b) To enable the Court officer to prepare himself for the ease in time hr the trial, charge sheets shall be sent so as to reach him at least one clear day before the date fixed for trial. The final diary shall one contain a summary of the case and a Synopsis of the evidence against the accused.

270. It lies with the police, subject to general instructions from the magistrate, to determine what evidence is necessary to establish a charge, and what number of witnesses are required to prove each fact. Much will, of coarse, depend on whether the fact is seriously disputed or not, Where the fact to be proved is not likely to be disputed, unnecessarily witnesses should not be harrased by being sent in. Under section 171, Code of Criminal Procedure no witness or complainant can be required to accompany a police officer. A witness refusing to execute a bond may be sent up in custody
271. Records of a post or telegraph office shall be produced and information available in them shall be given by the post master or telegraph master un the written order of any police officer who is making an investigation under the Code of Criminal Procedure; but only those entries in die records shall be disclosed which relate to the persons accused of the offence under investigation, or which are relevant to that offence. In any other case the post master shall refer for orders to the Postmaster -General, who will decide whether or not, under section 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the information required shall be withheld. when the information required by a police officer is not available in the records of the post office, the police officer shall be informed accordingly, irrespective of- the question whether the information, if available, might or might not be given.
272. (a) When an officer in charge of a police-station on completion of an in investigation under Chapter XIV, Code of Criminal Procedure, finds the charge proved and proposes to proceed against any person, he shall, not withstanding that he has failed to arrest all or any of the persons against whom the charge is proved, at once submit a charge-sheet in 13. P. Form No. 39, which is the report presented under section 173, Code of Criminal Procedure. Thus a charge-sheet shall be submitted when the accused is absconding or is sent up for trial m custody or on bond (section 70, Code of Criminal Procedure). In cases where an accused is absconding, the investigating officer shall submit with the charge sheet a list of the absconder’s property so that the court may issue attachment orders.

• The following instructions shall be observed:—
• The charge-sheet shall be sent by the quickest means to the Court officer for submission to the Magistrate. When a prima facie ease is made out in a case in which articles have been sent for chemical analysis, the charge-sheet shall not be delayed till receipt of the Chemical Examiner’s report. If a case in the first instance is reported in final report form, but subsequently by the Magistrate’s order or otherwise, the accused person is placed on his trial, the final report form shall be cancelled and a charge-sheet submitted. If, on transit from a police-station to the court, an accused person absconds, the charge-sheet form shall stand. The case shall be kept pending till the absconder is arrested, or till his arrest is considered hopeless.
• When submitting a charge-sheet, the officer in-charge of a police-station shall also communicate in B. P. Form No. 40 or 40A, the action taken by him to the person, if any, by whom information relating to the commission of the offence was first given.
• Lists of property stolen, lists of property found on parties arrested, reports on previous convictions, the bail and recognizance bonds executed under section 170, Code of Criminal Procedure (Forms XXV and XXVI of Schedule V, of the Code), and a map in cases in which the rules require a map, shall be attached to the charge sheet form. Only the precise particulars as required by the column headings shall be noted in the charge sheet. The charge-sheet shall be given an annual serial number and a counterfoil shall be kept at the police- station. Superior officers of police may not return or detain a charge-sheet once submitted by the investigation officer. They may however, direct a further enquiry pending the instructions of the district Magistrate. If the correct name or address of the accused has not been ascertained the investigating officer shall ask that a remand be applied for.
• A police officer sending up an accused person for trial shall certify on the back of the charge-sheer that he has carefully examined me register of persons convicted (Village Crone Note-Book, Part II), and that he has in all ocher respects made foil enquiry whether such accused person has been previously convicted. A similar certificate shall be given regarding absconders against whom a charge is proved. Should previous convictions be ascertained, a short report of all particulars concerning them, including the names of any person who can prove each previous conviction, will be sent with the charge-sheet to enable the Court officer to ye them under section 511, Code of Criminal Procedure. In addition to the certificate referred to the Investigating officer, when the accused is charged with an offence for which enhanced punishment can be given on reconviction, shall note on the back of the charge-sheet as to whether the accused has resided in his jurisdiction for a period of more or less than 10 years.
• When the entry regarding the previous conviction of the person sent for trial would, under existing rules, be in the register of another station, the investigating officer will note this tact on the charge sheet and inform the officer-in-charge of that station that such a person is being sent for trial, in order that latter inns search his station register and supply direct to the Court Officer the required particulars about his previous conviction. On receipt of this report, the Court. Officer shall attach it to the charge-sheer. The receipt, however, of such information in no way relieves a Sadar Court Officer front the performance of the duty of searching the index register of convictions and ascertaining whether any conviction other than those noted by the station police entered therein against an accused person. Enquiries should not be made in Nepal as to the antecedents of persons professing to in reside in that state.
• On the duplicate of the charge-sheer shall be entered in red ink the number of volume and page of the conviction (Village Crime Note Book Part 11) and surveillance registers in which the convict’s name has been registered, and in all cases declared true, whether convicted or nor, the number of the entry in the property register, if any, shall also be noted.
• The antecedents of each accused person shall be noted on the back of the charge-sheet under one or other of the following heads.—
• Known thief, dacoit, robber.
• Vagrant with no fixed residence,
• Suspicious character.
• Habitual drunkard.
• Good character.
• Antecedents unknown.

273. (a) A map or plan shall always accompany the charge sheet in cases of murder, dacoity, serious riot, mail robber), highway robbery, extensive burglary or theft where Rs,600 or more are stolen Ordinarily, maps will not be required in cases other than those mentioned above; but the investigating officer may, at his discretion, prepare and send up a map in any other case. The map shall be prepared at as early a stage of the investigating as possible.

• The map shall, if possible, be drawn to scale, but this is not essential, if not drawn to scale, the fact shall be noted clearly on the map.
• The draughtsman or investigating officer who prepares the map shall bear in mind that it is essential for a correct appreciation of the situation by the court and jury that a clear distinction should be made between (i) facts actually seen by the draughtsman himself and; iii) facts deposed to only by witnesses. Statements made by the draughtsman as to the first group axe always relevant: his statements as to the second are prima facie inadmissible and cannot be used as primary evidence to go to the jury.

It is necessary to maintain a suitable distinction in the map between these two sets of facts. This distinction shall be effected as follows: —

• The objects actually seen by the person preparing the map including such permanent features as buildings, trees, roads. paths and tangible points connected with the case, such as blood stains, foot-prints, cloth and corpse, etc., actually seen by him shall be indicated by letters of alphabet A, B, C, D, etc., explanations of these letters being given preferably in the margin of the map, but if this cannot be conveniently done, the explanations shall be furnished on a separate sheet of paper attached to the map.
• Particulars derived -from witnesses, e.g., the place where witness X is said to have stood, where the accused is said to have been standing when seen by X, where the blow was struck, etc., shall be indicated on the map by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. The explanations of the numbers, however, shall on no account be given on the face of the map or on the separate sheet of paper referred to above. but on another sheet of paper distinct from either the map or the list of explanations of the actual facts indicated by letters.
• The number o(the case and the name of the accused shall be given at the top of the map, and the signature of the person who prepared it at the foot. Use should always be made of cadastral and other maps, where they are available and are of sufficiently large scale.
• The draughtsman or the investigating officer who prepared the map shall be produced as a witness at the trial.

274. (a) Simultaneously with the submission of the charge-sheet and its annexure the investigating officer shall prepare two copies of a brief containing full particulars of the case and of evidence available for sending up the accused person. in B. P. Form No. 41. [The brief shall be, kept apart and shall not form part of the case diary during the pendency of the case.] One copy of the brief shall be sent to the Court officer, and the other to the Superintendent, so as to reach them, if possible, at least seven days before the date fixed for trial. Should the Superintendent notice defects in the investigation, he shall at once draw the attention of the investigating officer to them so that further investigation may he undertaken if necessary and he shall send to the Court officer a copy of any orders he issues.

(b) Any suggestions the Superintendent has to make regarding the conduct of the prosecution shall be communicated by him to the Court officer who shall take the necessary action for making the preparation of the case complete. He shall not wait, however, for such suggestions before remedytng defects which become apparent to him.

275. (a) A final report in B. P. Form No. 42 shall be drawn up by the investigating officer in every investigated case which does not result in charge-sheet. In column 8 a clear statement of the case and of the evidence shall be given together with the reasons for not sending up any person for trial. The investigating officer shall also suggest in the same column with reasons how the case may be entered by the Magistrate in the Generial register for statistical purposes whether as “true”, “intentionally false” intentionally of fact”. “mistake of law”, of “non cognizable’

(b) The form shall be written in triplicate, every final report being given an annual serial number. One copy will be kept at the police station and tiled with the case diaries and receipt of the final memorandum and the other two copies will be sent to the Circle Inspector, the actual date and hour of dispatch being entered on all the three copies. The circle Inspector will attach one copy of the case diaries and forward the other to the Magistrate with his remarks and recommendations. [See regulation 196.]

• The final report shall contain a specific application for the release of an arrested person from custody or his discharge from bond. Bail and recognizance bonds shall be attached to the final report.

276. (a) On receipt of the final report, the Magistrate may accept the police finding and declare the case accordingly or may, tinder section 156 (3). Code of Criminal Procedure, order further enquiry on specified points or may take cognizance under section 190 (b) of that Code, and, if the persons accused have not already been arrested issue process against them under section 204 of the Code and require the investigating officer to furnish the names and addresses of the witnesses.

(b) When further enquiry is ordered, it shall be entered on and completed as soon as possible. If, on the completion of such enquiry, the investigating officer considers the charge proved, he shall submit a charge-sheet form; if not, he shall submit a final report in the usual way.

277. (a) It, in any case in which a final report has already been made, any information of clue is clue is obtained, the investigation shall be reopened and shall be conducted by such officers as may be detailed to do so by the officer in charge of the station.

• When the investigation of any case is revived, the foregoing regulations shall apply to such further investigation in like manner as to the original investigation.
• If a revived investigation leads to the collection of evidence sufficient to justify a trial, a charge-sheet shall be drawn up, in accordance with the foregoing regulations. Otherwise, a supplementary final report Shall be prepared and dealt with in fine same manner as an original final report

278. On completion of tot. Investigation when a final report in B. P. Form No. 42 is submitted the investigating officer shall under section 173 (I) (b), Code of Criminal Procedure, communicate to the informant in B. P. Form No. 43 or 43A, the action taken by him.
279. (a) Whenever a case reported to the police is found after investigation to the maliciously false, the investigating officer shall, if evidence is available for prosecution of the complainant under section 182 or 211, Indian penal Code. submit to the Magistrate, through the Circle Inspector a formal complaint, attached to his final report, to enable the Magistrate to take cognizance of the case under Section 190, Code of Criminal Procedure [ under proviso (aa) to section 200 of that Cod the Magistrate need not examine the complainant]. The investigating officer shall at the same time furnish the Court officer with a brief of the case.

• Prosecutions against complainants in false cases shall be instituted only when the charges made are deliberately and maliciously false and not when they are merely exaggerated.
• The Circle Inspector shall, after satisfying himself that the complainant is well founded and that all possible enquiries have been made to collect the requisite evidence, forward the complaint to the Magistrate.
• If a complaint case referred to the police for investigation is found to be maliciously false, the investigating officer shall submit, together with the final report, a report to the Magistrate through the Circle Inspector giving the grounds on which the vase is held to be false and recommending as to whether the complainant should be prosecuted.

280. (a) The law in regard to searches is contained in Chapter VII and sections 102 and 103. 163 and 166, Code of Criminal Procedure. These sections must b~ scrupulously followed. The officer conducting a search should take precautions to prevent the possibility, on the one hand, of any articles being introduced into the house without the knowledge of the inmates, and en the other, of any articles being taken out of the house while the search is in progress. Search should he made in the presence of the owner or some one on his behalf.

The presence of search witnesses [vide clause (h) below] must not he looked upon merely as a formality, but they must actually be eyewitnesses to the whole search and must be able to see clearly where each article is found. They should then sign the search list (B.P. Form No. 44). If any search witness be illiterate, it should be read over to him and his left thumb impression should be taken on it. where the witnesses do not know English, it should be written in the vernacular. The suspected person whose property is seized, should, if present at he search. also be asked to sing the fist. Should be refuse, a note will be made to this effect and it should be certified to by the witnesses. The suspected person, or in his absence, the person in charge of the house or place searched, should be given a copy of the search list. he will be given an opportunity of comparing it with the original list. Should he refuse, a note to that effect should be made and should be certified to by witnesses. In cases where no property is seized, the search list should be crossed vertically and signed by the search witnesses and the owner of the house.

(b) Only searches for any specific article, which is known or reasonably suspected to be in any particular place or in the possession of any particular person, can be made without warrants. General searches without warrants are illegal and the only search which can be made without warrant under section 165, Code of Criminal Procedure. There must be some specific thing necessary for purposes of investigator and there must be reasonable ground for believing that it is in a particular place and that delay in search is likely to interfere with the recovery of property. The police officer must record in his diary (i) the ground of his belief and (ii) the tiling he is looking for, and must as soon as practicable send a copy of such record to the nearest Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence [section 165 (ii), Code of Criminal Precedence. No Place should be searched without a warrant merely because the occupier is a registered bau character or absconding offender. Such a search should be made only under the circumstances given in Section 165, Code of Criminal Procedure, and when Inc police officer has reason to believe that the thing searched for will be found in the place to be searched. Provided that reasonable suspicion exists and a definite article (or articles) is (or are) searched for, the police are entitled to search the house of an absconding offender, whether he has been proclaimed or not. Police officers should note in their diaries the reasons for search, though they are not obliged to give the name of the person upon whose information they act. The name, father’s name and residence, etc., of any person producing keys of any locked receptacles or claiming ownership of articles seized should always be noted in the case diary.

• Under section 165 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure the officer in charge of the police- station or the investigating officer, who must not be below the rank of Sub-Inspector, must if practicable. perform the actual search in person. Only when he is incapacitated from so dome can be depute another officer he must first of all record his reasons by doing so and then give written orders to the officer deputed specifying what the search is for and where it is to be made. A verbal order given on the spot will not fulfill the requirements of the section.
• Before the commencement of the search the person of every Police officer who is to conduct it, as also that of every witness and informer shall be examined before die witnesses and the owner 0f the house or his representative.
• The law does not require a search under the Code of Criminal Procedure, to be made by daylight, except those under section 14 of the Opium Act, 1878, but there are. advantages in searching by daylight, and a searching officer should consider whether a house search should proceed by night or whether daylight should be awaited. Matters must be so arranged as to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the inmates, and especially the women.
• When suspected property is found in a house all the properly in the house is not to be seized. Poverty seized must be either alleged or suspected to have been stolen or found under circumstances which create a suspicion of the commission of an offence, and nothing can justify the seizure of the whole of a man’s property because he is suspected of having stolen sonic particular article or articles.
• The number of witnesses required to attend a house-search depends on the circumstances of each particular case, and no hard -and-fast rule can be laid down. The witnesses selected should be residents of the same or adjoining villages. If necessary, such residents may be served with an order in writing to attend and witness the search.
• Care should be taken that the witnesses are, so far as possible, unconnected with any of the parties concerned or with the police, so that they may be regarded as quite independent. Whenever possible, the presence of the panchayat or headman of the village shall be obtaind to witness a search. Under no circumstances should a spy or habitual drunkard or any one of doubtful character, be called as a search witness. Reasons for rejecting any person as a witness to the search should be noted in the case diary.
• Whenever it becomes necessary for a search to be made for arms illegally possessed, a warrant must invariably be obtained under section 25 of the Indian Arms Act, 1878 (XI of 1878) from a Magistrate. Such searches can only be conducted by, or in the presence of an officer of, or above, the rank of Sub-Inspector. No police officer is authorised of his own motion to make a search for arms illegally possessed (vide section 30 of the Act).
• in order to satisfy the court as to the identity of articles alleged to Lave been discovered at a house-search and to prevent irregularities, the officer conducting a search under sections 103 and 165, Code of Criminal Procedure, shall prepare a list in triplicate in B .P. Form No. 44 of the property of which he has-taken possession and shall forward it to the Court officer by the first available dak after the search together with a report regarding the search. One copy of this list will be sent to the Court officer together with copies of the records presemibed under section 165 (5) of the Code. One copy of the list only shall be given to the householder or his representative and the third copy will remain with the investigating officer. On receipt in the Court office, this list shall be stamped with the date of receipt and the record pet up before die Magistrate. Investigating officers are required to note carefully the instructions contained in the headings of the form and are enjoined to conduct searches under such conditions that there may be no room for suspicion the part of the witnesses that articles have been surreptitiously introduced by them or their constables or chaukidars, or anyone whatever under their influence, with a view to their being included in the list ot property actually discovered in the place under search. Witnesses should be allowed free access to the place being searched and be given every facility to see and to hear everything that transpires.

All articles or weapons found at a house-search or on the person of a prisoner shall be carefully labelled and if a charge sheet is submitted in the case, shall be sent to the court officer. The labels shall be signed by the officer conducting the search.

• If the warrant is issued in form No. 8 of Schedule V of the Code of Criminal Procedure, or if the search is made without a warrant or on a warrant issued under section 98 of the Code, the police are not authorized to take away anything except the specified thing for winch the search was directed or made, but in all cases in which the Magistrate proceeds under paragraphs 3 and 4, sub-section (1) of section 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and directs in his warrant that there should be a general search followed by a more careful inspection at the police-station or some other convenient place, l)~PCt5 and documents and other articles need not be examined and initialed piece by piece in .tiru. They should be collected and packed in bumbles. These bundles or receptacles should be closed or locked, as the case may be, and must in all cases be sealed or marked by the search witnesses and entered in the search lists. For instance, the contents of a desk drawer should be collected, packed together and marked and initialed by the search witnesses. For example, it might be marked AA/1 Any other bundles, packages, papers or documents similarly packed up together might be sealed or marked AA/2 AA/3 cte., All these packages may be packed for easy carriage in a large receptacle which should in this case be marked A and should contain all the AA bundles or packages. Subsequently these bulky boxes or packages should be very formally opened by the search witnesses who sealed or marked and signed them during the search, and their contents should be gone over piece by piece, examined, kept or rejected, but in every instance initialed and dated by the search witnesses and the police officer in question. Each of these pieces must bear the initial letters and the serial in its original bundle plus its own serial number in that bundle. Should any difficulty be experienced in getting a search witness to examine the documents at the police-station, it will be open to any police officer to call in the assistance of the court to compel the attendance of such search witnesses at the court to open the bundles. boxes, etc.

Should he refuse to sign the contents of the bundles, the police officer should, it possible, invoke the help of an Honorary Magistrate or such other officers as may be available.

281. When the police authorities of an Indian Slate consider that, in the interest of law and order, a house in British India should be searched, an officer not below the rank of an officer in charge of a police-station should apply direct to the officer in charge of the police station in which the search is required to be made.. The latter should then proceed to make the search as he would upon a requisition made under section 166 (t) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Mutatis mutandis the same procedure should be followed by the police of British India when it is necessary to search a house in an Indian State.

The rules relating to arrests under the Indian Extradition Act, 1903, are contained in Appendix XX

282. (a) Whenever it is necessary to submit a person suspected to have been concerned in any

offence to identification, the proceedings, the proceedings should be conducted whenever possible in the presence of a Magistrate, or of a Sub-Registrar or, if no such officer is available, in the presence of two or more respectable person not interested in the case, who should be asked to satisfy themselves that the identification has been conducted under conditions precluding .collusion.

The   identification proceedings should be under taken as soon after the arrest of the suspected person or persons as possible, and care. should be taken that before the commencement of the proceedings the identifying witnesses are kept in charge of a court peon or other persons not being a police officer at such distance from the place where the proceedings are held as to have no chance of seeing the suspects. The suspected persons should, if possible, he paraded along with 8 or 10 persons, or, if there are more than one suspect, with as 20 or 30 persons, similarly dressed and of the same religion and social status. Care should be taken that the mixing up of the suspect or suspects with the other persons does not take place in view of the police officers and the witnesses, Each identifying witnesses should then be brought up singly in charge of the Magistrate’s orderly or some other person not being a police officer, to pick out the accused if he is able to do so. The identification by such witness should be conducted out of sight and hearing of other witnesses. If there is any fear that the identifying witnesses may be subjected to threats or injury, should they become known to the suspects or to their friends, the witnesses should be allowed to view’ the persons parietal from a place where they, themselves cannot be seen, as for instance through a window or an opening in a door or a wall. When the officer conducting the identification has satisfied himself that no communication between the police and the witnesses was possible, he should give a certificate to this effect.

• A statement in B. P, Form No. 45 should be prepared when suspects are presented for identification, and when the identification is not held in the presence of a Magistrate, the witness should be prepared to testify to the fairness of the manner in which the identification was affected in the proper columns.

(C) These regulations apply only to instances in which suspects have been arrested and have to be confronted with witnesses who express themselves able to recognise them by appearance, although not previously acquainted with them. When as frequently happen the complainant or other witness states that amongst his assailants he recognised certain persons of his acquaintance. either hi their appearance or by their voice, his credibility is a matter for the courts and no departmental rules can become applicable.

• It should be borne in mind that the primary object of identification proceedings is to the ability of the witness to identify a suspected person and to ascertain whether there is sufficient evidence to place him on trial. A Magistrate is chosen merely as a person whose impartiality and honesty is less likely to be called into question by the defense when the case is under trial, and when conducting the proceedings he is not acting in a judicial capacity (unless the case is under trial before him). It is not his duty, therefore, to record statements or put questions in suspects or witnesses except such as are necessary for the purpose of identification. While on the one hand the identification should he conducted with complete fairness and impartiality, on the other hand no attempt should be made to confuse or puzzle awitness or to create conditions which would render a witness who is honestly capable of identifying incapable of doing so.
• Test indemnification shall, whenever circumstances permit, be held inside the jail The above rules are applicable in the case of an under-trial prisoner or a suspect in jail. Men on bail shall not be mixed up with under -trial prisoners except with the permission of the Magistrate. In the case of confessing accused, separate test identification parade snail be held unless the Magistrate insists that it is essential to mix confessing with non-confessing accused and hold the test identification parade simultaneously. In sub divisional jails the accused shall, if necessary, be mixed up with outsiders for holding the test identification therein, as very few under-trial prisoners of similar nature and of the same social. Status arc available there for the purpose.
• In rioting or other cases the police shall keep the persons arrested during the occurrence distinct from those arrested afterwards on suspicion of having taken part in it. Police officers shall use the utmost cure to prevent the identity of rioters and other offenders caught in the act from being impugned at the trial, The names of the offenders and of the persons arresting or identifying them shall be recorded as soon as possible in all cases, before the prisoners are removed in custody from the spot; and the place and hour of arrest shall he most accurately noted. Offenders caught red-handed shall be kept quite distinct from those arrested on suspicion.
• When a suspect refuses to attend a test identification parade no action can be taken in the absence of any evidence other than evidence of identification. When, however, there is other evidence against a suspect and he refuses to appear at a test identification parade lie shall be sent for trial on the strength of such other evidence. During the trial, evidence of such refusal shall be led in favour of the prosecution. At the time of trial, the suspect will be in the dock and available for identification by the witnesses. Whenever a suspect refuses to attend a test identification parade, the Magistrate holding the parade shall be requested to make an appropriate note of the fact in B. P. Form No. 45 and, if the suspect is later sent for trial, the Magistrate shall be examined as a witness to prove the refusal.

283. (a) (i) When an accused or suspected person volunteers a confession it should be recorded in detail by a police officer who if a appears to b – true, shall take immediate steps for its verification. Such verification should include the tracing and examination of witnesses named or indicated in the confession and the search for, or the recovery of, stolen property or other exhibits material to the investigation.

The officer recording the confession shall further arrange for inc confessing person to be sent 😮 a Magistrate in order that the confession may be judicially recorded.

• Anything, which savors of oppression or trickery in obtaining a confession mist, is avoided. The aim of a police officer should be to obtain circumstantial and oral evidence so convincing that the accused person cannot escape If he succeeds in obtaining such evidence, the confession will often follow and will materially strengthen the case, but to seek to obtain the confession first and the corroborative evidence afterwards is to reverse the proper order of proceedings. If, however, a confession is volunteered in an inquiry, every effort must be made to ascertain if there is evidence corroborative of any point in the confession which can be verified. A statement purporting to be a confession will often be made in order to mislead the inquiring officer, and such statements are very rarely true in all particulars, and also are frequently made in order to throw blame on other persons, or with a view to deter from further inquiry. Also they are generally retracted in court, in which case, if they stand alone and uncorroborated, they have little or no probative value, There is thus every reason l~ testing so-called confessions very carefully and not accepting them as final and conclusive, and stopping the inquiry.
• (i) Every confession which a person in police custody wishes to make should be recorded

by the highest Magistrate short of the District Magistrate who can be reached in a reasonable time. Confessions can be recorded only by Presidency Magistrates, Magistrates of the first class and Magistrates of the second class specially empowered by the Provincial Government.

• Investigating police officers should not be allowed to be present when a confession is recorded, the Magistrate should satisfy himself in every reasonable way that the confession is made voluntarily, it should be made clear to the prisoner that the making of a statement or nut is within his discretion. Cognizance of complaints of ill-treatment by the police should be promptly taken and any indications of the use of improper perjure should be at once inactivated. Concessions should ordinarily be recorded in open court and during court hours, provided that if the Magistrate is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing on the form of confession, that the recording of the confession in open court would be liable Co defeat the ends of justice, the confession may be recorded. elsewhere. The immediate examination of an accused person directly the police bring him into court should be deprecated, and, when feasible, a few hours for reflection in circumstances in which he cannot be influenced by we police should be given him before rus statement is recorded,
• After a confession, which relates to more than one case and discloses the activities of a gang of criminals, has been judicially recorded, it should be verified by a police officer and ordinarily an Inspector should be deputed for this purpose. Should any particulars not be capable of verification without the presence of the confessing accused, an application should. with the approval of the Superintendent, be made to the District Magistrate to depute a subordinate Magistrate to verify them with his assistance. When such an application is made, a copy of the translation of the confession together with details of the specific points that it has not been found possible to verify in the absence of the accused, must accompany the application.
• The verification should be made with a view to discover evidence corroborative of the facts disclosed in the confession and case diaries should be submitted showing for each case all the evidence and intimation available on the points mentioned below:—
• Name, father’s name, residence, age and personal description of each member of the gang.
• The route taken by the gang.
• The chief incidents during the journey of the gang from start to finish, i.e., meeting with any person, visits to shops or houses for food, oil, light, axes, etc., the hiring of carts, boats or carriages, buying tickets at railway stations, crossing ferries, etc.
• The arrival of the gang at the scene of occurrence and the preliminary arrangements made, lighting torches, cutting sticks, etc.
• The commission of the crime, rooms entered, doors broken, persons tied up or assaulted, cries uttered, or threats used, boxes taken away, chests broken open, property taken, etc.
• The division of stolen property.
• The breaking-up of the gang and the homeward route taken, etc.
• If a confession is made by convict undergoing imprisonment it should be judicially recorded before action is taken on it. Thereafter if it appears to have been made bona fide and not to implicate his enemies or persons who have given evidence against him it should be verified as described in clause (c) above. If a magisterial verification of any points is necessary the Provincial Government should be moved to suspend the man’s sentence temporarily under section 401, Code of Criminal Procedure, as a condition of which suspension Government will require him to remain under the charge of the subordinate Magistrate whom the District Magistrate may select for the purpose.
• If the prisoner has been confined in jail in default of finding security, the Provincial Government may not suspend his sentence, as he has not been imprisoned for an offence within the meaning of section 401, Code of Criminal Procedure. In such cases he may be released on bail, if it is forthcoming, or if not, the District Magistrate may cancel the bond under section 125 of that Code. In either case, on release, he should be rearrested and charged with an offence under section 400 or 401, Indian Penal Code, and made over to the Magistrate in order that his confession may be recorded (if this has not already been done) and verified if needed.
• The object of any magisterial verification will be to verify specific points in confessions when certain places or persons cannot be discovered without the assistance of the confessing accused.
• (i) During such verification the Magistrate deputed shall be responsible for the safe custody of the prisoner and shall have sole charge of him, but the latter shall on no account be put in a police-station lock-up. No police officer of any rank shall have access to him except with the written permission of the verifying Magistrate and in his presence: and a record shall be kept of all such interviews permitted. Ordinarily such permission should not be given to any police officer directly connected with the investigation.
• The prisoner shall be guarded by peons arranged for by the verifying Magistrate, when such arrangements are considered sufficient to prevent the escape of or any attack on the prisoner. When the custody of peons is considered insufficient, the verifying Magistracy should apply to the District Magistrate for a guard from the Special Armed Force, but the men of this guard shall be forbidden to hold any communication with the investigating police or to converse with the prisoner, the personal wants of the prisoner being attended to by the Magistrates peons under the eyes of the guard. (Government of Bengal Order No. 3571-P.-D.. dated the 6th September 1912.)

(ii) Where the use of handcuffs or other bonds is deemed necessary. the provisions of regulation 330 shall be followed.

284. If it is desirable that a prisoner be removed from one jail to another for the purpose of verifying his confession, the following procedure should be followed:—

• When the two prisons are in the same province, application should be made to the Inspector-General of Prisons to direct the transfer under section 29(2) of the Prisoners

Act, 1900 (111 of, 1900).

(ii) When the two prisons are in territories under two different Provincial Governments, application should be made to the Provincial Government concerned for securing the transfer under section 29(1) of the Act referred to above.

It will also meet the circumstances if proceedings are instituted against the confessing prisoner in the district to which he is to be removed and an order is then applied for under section 37 of the Act to the court having jurisdiction in the form set forth in the second schedule of the Act. This procedure should be followed also in the case of all other prisoners, who are accused in the gang case. The removal of prisoners confined beyond the limits of the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court can be effected in the manner laid down in section 40 of the Act.

285. (a)Attention should be paid by Superintendents and police officers generally to the very important subjects of obtaining information from criminals after their conviction. Such information should be received and acted upon with caution, but it can and should be obtained, and a good police officer should know how to utilise it.

• It should be distinctly understood that the main object of interviewing a convict is not to obtain a confession but information. On many occasions an outbreak of crime has been eventually traced to new gangs, and, therefore when the investigation has established that none of the gangs known to the police have been concerned in the outbreak, the investigating officer will frequently obtain a clue to the gangs concerned from a convicted prisoner in jail whose home is in the affected area. Much useful information can also be obtained from convicts regarding receivers and the whereabouts of stolen property.
• It may sometimes happen that from the demeanor in court or at jail parades of a convicted person, the Court officer may consider that such person can be interviewed with advantage. In such cases it is the duty of the Court officer to report accordingly to the Superintendent.
• No police officer shall be permitted to interview or interrogate any prisoner in confinement in jail without the permission of the Magistrate of the district, or, in his absence, of the Magistrate in charge, or, if the prisoner be confined in the Presidency jail, without the permission of the Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, or of the Inspector General. The permission shall be given in the form of a written order addressed to the Superintendent of the jail. The per­mission shall be obtained through the Superintendent of Police, or in his absence, through the officer in charge at headquarters. As a rule permission to interview a convicted prisoner in jail should not be accorded to an officer below the rank of Sub-Inspectors and, whenever possible, the interview should take place in the morning during the hours when the Civil Surgeon or Superintendent of the jail is visiting the jail.
• If in the course of an interview a convict makes a statement, which amounts to a confession, the officer to whom the statement is made shall at once inform the Superintendent of Police who shall either personally interview the convict or depute an officer not below the rank of Inspector to record the statement. If the confession is of an important nature implicating a gang of dacoits of professional criminals, the Superintendent shall immediately forward a copy of it to the Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department or in political cases, to the Deputy Inspector-General, Intelligence Branch. The Deputy Inspector-General shall, on receipt of the confession or statement, use his discretion under regulation 616, whether he will immediately assume control of the investigation or leave the case to he dealt with by the local authorities under the control of the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range. Pending receipt of orders from the Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department or Intelligence Branch, the Superintendent shall take steps to have the confession recorded by a Magistrate and to follow up any clues furnished by the confessing prisoner.
• It must be understood that the above regulation applies to statements made by convicted prisoners in jail. The procedure to be followed when a person accused or suspected of a crime volunteers a confession and the method of verification of it have been laid down in regulation 283.

286. (a) When a convict undergoing imprisonment for a substantive offence is tendered pardon

in another case or when a person on conviction on his own plea of guilt is examined as a prosecution witness against the co accused, it may be desirable, in consideration of the service rendered to the prosecution to move the Provincial Government to remit or suspend under section 401, Code of Criminal Procedure, the whole or any portion of. the sentence he is undergoing. Such remission or suspension of sentence shall ordinarily be on the conditions noted below and the violation of any of the conditions shall, under clause (3) of section 401 of the Code, entail the revoking of the order of suspension and his arrest and commitment to jail to undergo the unexpired portion of the sentence:—

• The convict in whose favour the order was passed shall report himself at the police- station within whose. jurisdiction he resides at such intervals as may be ordered by the Superin­tendent.
• He shall notify his intention to -change his residence to the officer in charge of the police- station one week before he changes his residence.
• He shall within one week of his arrival at his new residence report himself at the police- station.
• He shall not associate with known bad characters.
• He shall not commit any fresh offence.
• If he intends to absent himself temporarily for one or more nights from his place of residence, he shall notify the fact personally, or through the village chaukidar, to the officer in charge of the police-station or outpost within which he is at the time residing, stating the place or places to which

he intends to proceed, and the probable dates of his arrival there at and return therefrom respectively.

• Applications for the suspension or remission of sentence under section 401, Cede of Criminal Procedure, should be made in B. P. form No. 46, and should be accompanied by all information necessary to guide the Provincial Government in the exercise of its discretion.

The period for which it is intended that the conditions shall remain in force should be definitely specified in the application and it must also be stated that the prisoner had consented to the imposition of the conditions.

287. (a) Reports for proceedings to be taken under section 107 or section 145, Code of Criminal Procedure, shall be submitted in duplicate in B. P. Form No. 36. One copy showing the result of the case’ shall be returned direct to the station officer by the Court officer in lieu of a final memorandum.

• In column 4 shall he entered the names of such persons as are considered responsible for a likelihood of a breach- of the peace and who should be bound down. These may include names of agents, servants or partisans to the cause of dispute. In a report for proceedings under section 145, Code of Criminal Procedure, this column shall remain blank.
• If the police serves a copy of the Magistrate’s order under section 145, Code of Criminal Procedure,, it should be served promptly in the manner laid down by law, and every effort should be made to serve it personally on the parties.
• In investigating cases of land disputes likely to cause a breach of the peace, the one and only point for determination is to ascertain which party is in actual present possession of the disputed area. In collecting evidence of possession, the investigating officer shall examine people holding or cultivating land in the vicinity and shall note any remarkable feature, such as boundary marks, etc., bearing on the question of possession. It is not necessary to go into documentary evidence, except so far as it throws light on present possession, e.g., a very recent civil court decree followed by delivery of possession or record-of.. rights recently carried out, etc., may be examined with advantage.

When the investigating officer finds one party -in possession, he shall ask the Magistrate to take action against the other under section 107 or section 144, Code of Criminal Procedure, and if he finds himself unable to collect definite evidence of possession, he shall ask for action under section 145 of that Code. The report shall always contain in addition to the reasons for apprehending a breach of the peace a summary of evidence, oral or documentary, which throws light on present possession.