DABLU KUJUR versus THE STATE OF JHARKHAND
[2024] 3 S.C.R. 614, Supreme Court of India, 2024
Outcome: Disposed off
Segment: Issues
* Author
[2024] 3 S.C.R. 614 : 2024 INSC 197
Dablu Kujur 
v. 
The State of Jharkhand
(Criminal Appeal No. 1511 of 2024)
12 March 2024
[Bela M. Trivedi* and Pankaj Mithal, JJ]
Issue for Consideration
The issue for consideration was the compliance of the requirements 
of a Police Report under Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure, 1973.
Headnotes
Criminal Law – Police Report – Section 173 of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 2 (r) of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure, 1973:
Held: The Police Report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C. being a very 
important piece of document from the view point of the prosecution, 
the defence and the court, it is incumbent upon the Investigating 
Officer to strictly comply with the requirements of the said provisions, 
as non-compliance thereof gives rise to many legal issues in the 
court of law. [Para 7]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.173(2) – Report under 
Section 173(2) forms basis for cognizance – Charge Sheet is 
an opinion of the investigating officer to the concerned court:
Held : Only a report forwarded by the Police Officer to the 
Magistrate under Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 
can form the basis for the competent court to take cognizance 
thereupon – A Charge Sheet under Section 173(2) of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure is an opinion or intimation of the investigating 
officer to the concerned court that on the material collected during 
investigation, an offence appears to have been
committed by the 
particular person/s. [Paras 12 and 13]
Criminal Law – Magistrate has three options where Police 
Report concludes offence is made out; and where Police 
Report concludes that no offence is made out.
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Dablu Kujur v. The State of Jharkhand
Held : When a Police Report concludes that an offence appears 
to have been committed, the Magistrate has three options : (i) he 
may accept the report and take cognizance and issue process; (ii) 
he may direct further investigation under Section 156(3); (iii) he 
may disagree with the report, and discharge the accused  – When 
the Police Report concludes that no offence appears to have been 
committed, the Magistrate has three options : (i) he may accept 
the report and drop the proceedings; (ii) he may disagree with 
the report and conclude that there is sufficient ground to proceed 
further, and take cognizance and issue process; (iii) he may direct 
further investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure. Reliance placed on the Judgment in Bhagwant Singh 
v. Commissioner of Police & Anr., [1985] 3 SCR 942 :1985 INSC 
103 : (1985) 2 SCC 537. [Para 14]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.173(2) & (5) – Whether 
Final Report keeping investigation open qua other accused, or 
without all documents under Section 173(5) is in compliance 
with Section 173(2) –  Would not vitiate the charge sheet:
Held : Reliance placed on the Judgment in Satya Narian Musadi 
& Ors. v. State of Bihar (1980) 3 SCC 152, wherein it was held 
that the statutory requirement of Section 173(2) Cr.P.C. would be 
complied with if various details prescribed therein are included in the 
report. The report is complete if it is
accompanied with all documents 
and statements of witnesses as required by Section 173(5) Cr.P.C. 
Reliance is also placed on the Judgment in Dinesh Dalmia v. CBI, 
[2007] 9 SCR 1124 : 2007 INSC 941 : (2007) 8 SCC 770, wherein 
it was held that even if all the documents are not filed, by reason 
thereof, the charge-sheet itself would not be vitiated in law. Relied 
upon the Judgment in CBI v. Kapil Wadhwan, [2024] 1 SCR 677 : 
2024 INSC 58, holding that pendency of further investigation qua 
other accused or non-availability of documents at the time of filing 
of charge sheet would not vitiate the charge sheet. [Para 15]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Investigation – Procedure 
for investigation under Section 157 to Section 172 of the Code 
of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Reports by the Police: 
Held: Under Section 157 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, 
if an officer-in-charge of a Police Station has reason to suspect the 
commission of an offence, which he is empowered to investigate 
under Section 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, he shall
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forthwith send a report of the same to the Magistrate – Such report 
would be in the nature of preliminary report – Under Section 169, 
upon completion of investigation, if it appears to the Officer-in-charge 
of the Police Station that there is not sufficient evidence or reasonable 
ground of suspicion to justify the forwarding of the accused to a 
Magistrate, such officer shall, release such person, and direct him to 
appear as and when required before the Magistrate empowered to 
take cognizance of the offence – Section 170 of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure deals with cases when evidence is sufficient – Section 172 
pertains to Diary of proceedings in investigation – Every Police Officer 
making an investigation under Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure is required to enter his proceedings in the investigation in a 
diary day-by-day – Section 172(1A) requires statements of witnesses 
to be inserted in the case diary; and Section 172(1B) requires such 
diary to be in a volume and duly paginated. [Para 10 and 11]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.173(2) – Mandatory 
requirements under Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure – Directions for compliance issued to Police 
Officers:
Held : The Report of a Police Officer on the completion of 
investigation shall contain : (i) A report in the form prescribed 
by the State Government stating-(a) the names of the parties; 
(b) the nature of the information;
(c) the names of the persons 
who appear to be acquainted with the circumstances of the 
case; (d) whether any offence appears to have been committed 
and, if so, by whom;(e) whether the accused has been arrested; 
(f) whether he has been released on his bond and, if so, whether 
with or without sureties; (g) whether he has been forwarded in 
custody under section 170. (h) Whether the report of medical 
examination of the woman has been attached where investigation 
relates to an offence under [sections 376, 376A, 376AB, 376B, 
376C, 376D, 376DA, 376DB] or section 376E of the Indian Penal 
Code (45 of 1860); (ii) If upon the completion of investigation, 
there is no sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion 
to justify the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate, the 
Police officer in charge shall clearly state in the Report about the 
compliance of Section 169 Cr.PC.; (iii) When the report in respect 
of a case to which Section 170 applies, the police officer shall 
forward to the Magistrate along with the report, all the documents 
or relevant extracts thereof on which the prosecution proposes
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to rely other than those already sent to the Magistrate during 
investigation; and the statements recorded under Section 161 
of all the persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine 
as its witnesses; (iv) In case of further investigation, the Police 
officer in charge shall forward to the Magistrate a further report 
or reports regarding such evidence in the form prescribed and 
shall also comply with the details mentioned in the above sub 
para (i) to (iii). [Para 17]
Case Law Cited
Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police & Anr. 
[1985] 3 SCR 942 : 1985 INSC 103 : (1985) 2 SCC 
537; Satya Narain Musadi & Ors. v. State of Bihar 
(1980) 3 SCC 152; Dinesh Dalmia v. CBI, [2007] 9 
SCR 1124 : 2007 INSC 941 : (2007) 8 SCC 770; CBI 
v. Kapil Wadhwan [2024] 1 SCR 677 : 2024 INSC 
58 – relied on.
List of Acts
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
List of Keywords
Police Report; Charge Sheet; Compliance of Section 173 Cr.P.C.; 
Directions for Final Report.
Case Arising From
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.1511 
of 2024
From the Judgment and Order dated 17.01.2023 of the High Court 
of Jharkhand at Ranchi in BA No.11895 of 2022
Appearances for Parties
Sudhanshu Chaudhari, Sr. Adv., Vatsalya Vigya, Advs. for the 
Appellant.
Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, A.A.G., Vishnu Sharma, Shantanu Sagar, 
Puneet Singh Bindra, Anil Kumar, Gunjesh Ranjan, Vaibhav Jain, 
Rajesh Ranjan, Attin Shankar Rastogi, A. Vasudeva,
Prateek Yadav, 
Azmat Hayat Amanullah, Ms. Ruchira Goel, Siddharth Thakur, 
Sharanya Sinha, Mustafa Sajad, Ms. Keerti Jaya, Adit Jayeshbhai 
Shah, Advs. for the Respondent.
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Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court
Judgment
Bela M. Trivedi, J.
1.	
Leave granted.
2.	
The appellant-accused, by way of the present appeal has challenged 
the impugned judgment and order dated 17.01.2023 passed by 
the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi in B.A. No.11895 of 2022, 
whereby the High Court has dismissed the said application seeking 
his release on bail in respect of the FIR being Sukhdeonagar P.S. 
Case No.-238/2022 dated 30.05.2022 registered for the offences 
under Sections 302, 120-B/34 of IPC and Section 25(1-B) A/26/27/35 
of the Arms Act. 
3.	
During the course of arguments, it was apprised to the Court that 
the trial is at the fag end and almost all the witnesses have been 
examined by the prosecution except one witness.
4.	
In view of the above, we are not inclined to release the appellant on 
bail, more particularly, when the trial is at the fag end.
5.	
Before parting, it may be noted that on 17.07.2023, this Court 
(Coram- Mr. Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Ms. Justice Bela M. Trivedi) 
had passed the following order: -
“The learned counsel for the State of Jharkhand states 
that Sections 34 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 
have been SLP(Crl.) No. 2874/2023 invoked against the 
petitioner - Dablu Kujur. 
Having gone through the chargesheet, we must observe 
that it is bereft of any details and particulars. The Director 
General of Police (DGP), State of Jharkhand will examine 
whether the said
chargesheet is in accordance with law, 
and if such chargesheets are being filed, appropriate steps 
should be taken in compliance with the relevant provisions 
of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The DGP, State 
of Jharkhand will file an action report within a period of 
four weeks from today.
We are told that similar chargesheets bereft of details 
and particulars are being filed in the States of Bihar and
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Dablu Kujur v. The State of Jharkhand
Uttar Pradesh. A copy of this order will also be sent to the 
relevant DGPs for the States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, 
who will submit their respective reports on the steps taken 
by them within four weeks from today. 
Keeping in view the facts of the present case, we are 
inclined to direct the trial court to examine the public 
witnesses within a period of four months from today, without 
fail. Status report along with copy of the order sheets will 
be filed immediately upon completion of four months. 
List for consideration and orders in the first half of 
December 2023”. 
6.	
In compliance with the said order, the affidavits are filed on behalf of 
the State of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with regard to the 
steps taken/being taken by them for submitting the Chargesheets/
Police Reports in accordance with law.
7.	
The Police Report submitted by the police under Section 173(2) 
being very important piece of document from the view point of 
the prosecution, the defence and the court, we deem it necessary 
to elaborately deal with the various aspects involved in the said 
provision. For the reasons stated hereinafter, we are of the opinion 
that it is incumbent on the part of the Investigating Officer to 
strictly comply with the requirements of the said provisions, as 
non-compliance thereof gives rise to many legal issues in the 
court of law.
8.	
As per Section 2(r) of Cr.P.C, “Police Report” means a
report 
forwarded by a Police Officer to a Magistrate under sub-section (2) 
of Section 173.
9.	
Section 173 reads as under: -
“173. Report of police officer on completion of investigation. — 
(1) Every investigation under this Chapter shall be 
completed without unnecessary delay.
[(1A) The investigation in relation to [an offence under 
sections 376,376A, 376AB, 376B, 376C, 376D, 376DA, 
376DB or 376E] from the date on which the information 
was recorded by the officer in charge of the police station.]
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(2) (i) As soon as it is completed, the officer in charge of the 
police station shall forward to a Magistrate empowered to 
take cognizance of the offence on a police report, a report 
in the form prescribed by the State Government, stating—
(a)	 the names of the parties;
(b)	 the nature of the information;
(c)	
the names of the persons who appear to be 
acquainted with the circumstances of the case;
(d)	 whether any offence appears to have been 
committed and, if so, by whom;
(e)	 whether the accused has been arrested;
(f)	
whether he has been released on his bond and, 
if so, whether with or without sureties;
(g)	 whether he has been forwarded in custody 
under section 170.
(h)	 whether the report of medical examination of the 
woman has been attached where investigation 
relates to an offence under 2 [sections 376,376A, 
376AB, 376B, 376C, 376D, 376DA, 376DB] or 
section 376E of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 
1860)].]
(ii) The officer shall also communicate, in such manner as 
may be prescribed by the State Government, the action 
taken by him, to the person, if any, by whom the information 
relating to the commission of the offence was first given.
(3) Where a superior officer of police has been appointed 
under section 158, the report shall, in any case in which 
the State Government by general or special order so 
directs, be submitted through that officer, and he may, 
pending the orders of the Magistrate, direct the
officer in 
charge of the police station to make further investigation.
(4) Whenever it appears from a report forwarded under this 
section that the accused has been released on his bond, 
the Magistrate shall make such order for the discharge of 
such bond or otherwise as he thinks fit.
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Dablu Kujur v. The State of Jharkhand
(5) When such report is in respect of a case to which 
section 170 applies, the police officer shall forward to the 
Magistrate along with the report—
(a)	 all documents or relevant extracts thereof on 
which the prosecution proposes to rely other 
than those already sent to the Magistrate during 
investigation;
(b)	 the statements recorded under section 161 of 
all the persons whom the prosecution proposes 
to examine as its witnesses.
(6) If the police officer is of opinion that any part of any 
such statement is not relevant to the subject-matter of 
the proceedings or that its disclosure to the accused is 
not essential in the interests of justice and is inexpedient 
in the public interest, he shall indicate that part of the 
statement and append a note requesting the Magistrate 
to exclude that part from the copies to be granted to the 
accused and stating his reasons for making such request.
(7) Where the police officer investigating the case finds it 
convenient so to do, he may furnish to the accused copies 
of all or any of the documents referred to in sub-section (5).
(8) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to preclude 
further investigation in respect of an offence after a 
report under sub-section (2) has been forwarded to the 
Magistrate and, where upon such investigation, the officer 
in charge of the police station obtains further evidence, 
oral or documentary, he shall forward to the Magistrate
a 
further report or reports regarding such evidence in the 
form prescribed; and the provisions of sub- sections (2) to 
(6) shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to such report 
or reports as they apply in relation to a report forwarded 
under sub-section (2)”.
10.	 The procedure for investigation has been laid down in Section 157 
of Cr.P.C. which states inter alia that if from the information received 
or otherwise, an officer in charge of a police station has reason 
to suspect the commission of an offence which he is empowered 
under Section 156 to investigate, he shall forthwith send a report
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of the same to a Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of 
such offence upon a police report and shall proceed in person, 
or shall depute one of his subordinate officers to proceed, to the 
spot, to investigate the facts and circumstances of the case, and, 
if necessary, to take measures for the discovery and arrest of the 
offender. Such report would be in the nature of preliminary report. 
As per Section 169, upon the completion of the investigation, if it 
appears to the officer in charge of the police station that there is 
not sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify 
the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate, such officer shall, 
if such person is in custody, release him on his executing a bond, 
with or without sureties, as such officer may direct, to appear, if 
and when so required, before the Magistrate empowered to take 
cognizance of the offence on a police report, and to try the accused 
or commit him for trial. Section 170 deals with the cases to be 
sent to Magistrate when evidence is sufficient. The relevant part of 
Section 170(1) reads as under: -
“170. Cases to be sent to Magistrate, when evidence is 
sufficient.—(1) If, upon an investigation under this Chapter, 
it appears to the officer in charge of the police station 
that there is sufficient evidence or reasonable ground as 
aforesaid, such officer shall forward the accused under 
custody to a Magistrate empowered to take
cognizance of 
the offence upon a police report and to try the accused or 
commit him for trial, or, if the offence is bailable and the 
accused is able to give security, shall take security from 
him for his appearance before such Magistrate on a day 
fixed and for his attendance from day to day before such 
Magistrate until otherwise directed.”
11.	 Section 172 pertains to the Diary of proceedings in investigation, which 
requires every police officer making an investigation under Chapter 
XII Cr.P.C. to enter his proceedings in the investigation in a diary day 
by day. Sub-section (IA) of Section 172 requires that the statements 
of the witnesses recorded during the course of investigation under 
section 161 have to be inserted in the case diary; and sub-section 
(1B) of Section 172 requires that such diary shall be a volume and 
duly paginated.
12.	 We are more concerned with Section 173(2) as we have found that 
the investigating officers while submitting the chargesheet/Police
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Dablu Kujur v. The State of Jharkhand
Report do not comply with the requirements of the said provision. 
Though it is true that the form of the report to be submitted under 
Section 173(2) has to be prescribed by the State Government and 
each State Government has its own Police Manual to be followed 
by the police officers while discharging their duty, the mandatory 
requirements required to be complied with by such officers in the 
Police Report/Chargesheet are laid down in Section 173, more 
particularly sub-section (2) thereof.
13.	 It may be noted that though there are various reports required to 
be submitted by the police in charge of the police station before, 
during and after the investigation as contemplated in Chapter XII 
of Cr.P.C., it is only the report forwarded by the police officer to 
the Magistrate under sub-section (2) of Section 173 Cr.P.C. that 
can form the basis for the competent court for taking cognizance 
thereupon. A chargesheet is nothing but a final report of the police 
officer under Section 173(2) of Cr.P.C. It is an opinion or intimation 
of the investigating officer to the concerned court that on the material 
collected during the course of investigation, an offence appears to 
have been committed by the particular person or persons, or that 
no offence appears to have been committed. 
14.	 When such a Police Report concludes that an offence appears 
to have been committed by a particular person or persons, the
Magistrate has three options: (i) he may accept the report and take 
cognizance of the offence and issue process, (ii) he may direct further 
investigation under sub-section (3) of Section 156 and require the 
police to make a further report, or (iii) he may disagree with the report 
and discharge the accused or drop the proceedings. If such Police 
Report concludes that no offence appears to have been committed, 
the Magistrate again has three options: (i) he may accept the report 
and drop the proceedings, or (ii) he may disagree with the report 
and taking the view that there is sufficient ground for proceeding 
further, take cognizance of the offence and issue process, or (iii) 
he may direct further investigation to be made by the police under 
sub-section (3) of Section 1561.
15.	 The issues with regard to the compliance of Section 173(2) Cr.P.C., 
may also arise, when the investigating officer submits Police Report 
1	
Bhagwant Singh vs. Commissioner of Police & Anr.; [1985] 3 SCR 942 : (1985) 2 SCC 537
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only qua some of the persons-accused named in the FIR, keeping 
open the investigation qua the other persons-accused, or when all 
the documents as required under Section 173(5) are not submitted. In 
such a situation, the question that is often posed before the court is 
whether such a Police Report could be said to have been submitted 
in compliance with sub-section (2) of Section 173 Cr.P.C. In this 
regard, it may be noted that in Satya Narain Musadi & Ors. vs. 
State of Bihar2, this Court has observed that statutory requirement 
of the report under Section 173(2) would be complied with if various 
details prescribed therein are included in the report. The report is 
complete if it is accompanied with all the documents and statements 
of witnesses as required by Section 175(5). In Dinesh Dalmia vs. 
CBI 3, however, it has been held that even if all the documents are 
not filed, by reason thereof the submission of the chargesheet itself 
would not be vitiated in law. Such issues often arise when the accused 
would make his claim for default bail under Section 167(2) of Cr.P.C. 
and contend that all the documents having not been submitted as 
required under Section 173(5), or the investigation qua some of the 
persons having been kept open while submitting Police Report under 
Section 173(2), the requirements under Section 173(2) could not be 
said to have been complied with. In this regard, this Court recently 
held in
case of CBI vs. Kapil Wadhwan & Anr.4 that: -
“Once from the material produced along with the 
chargesheet, the court is satisfied about the commission of 
an offence and takes cognizance of the offence allegedly 
committed by the accused, it is immaterial whether the 
further investigation in terms of Section 173(8) is pending 
or not. The pendency of the further investigation qua the 
other accused or for production of some documents not 
available at the time of filing of chargesheet would neither 
vitiate the chargesheet, nor would it entitle the accused 
to claim right to get default bail on the ground that the 
chargesheet was an incomplete chargesheet or that the 
chargesheet was not filed in terms of Section 173(2) of 
Cr.P.C.”
2	
(1980) 3 SCC 152
3	
[2007] 9 SCR 1124 : (2007) 8 SCC 770
4	
[2024] 1 SCR 677 : Criminal Appeal No. 391 of 2024 (@ SLP (Crl) No. 11775 of 2023)
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Dablu Kujur v. The State of Jharkhand
16.	 The above referred discussion has been necessitated for highlighting 
the significance of the compliance of requirements of the provisions 
contained in Section 173(2) of Cr.P.C. 
17.	 Ergo, having regard to the provisions contained in Section 173 it is 
hereby directed that the Report of police officer on the completion 
of investigation shall contain the following: - 
(i)	
A report in the form prescribed by the State Government stating-
(a)	 the names of the parties;
(b)	 the nature of the information;
(c)	 the names of the persons who appear to be acquainted 
with the circumstances of the case;
(d)	 whether any offence appears to have been committed 
and, if so, by whom;
(e)	 whether the accused has been arrested;
(f)	
whether he has been released on his bond and, if so, 
whether with or without sureties;
(g)	 whether he has been forwarded in custody under section 
170.
(h)	 Whether the report of medical examination of the woman 
has been attached where investigation relates to an offence 
under [sections 376, 376A, 376AB, 376B, 376C, 376D, 
376DA, 376DB] or section 376E of the Indian Penal Code 
(45 of 1860)”
(ii)	 If upon the completion of investigation, there is no sufficient 
evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify the 
forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate, the Police officer in 
charge shall clearly state in the Report about the compliance 
of Section 169 Cr.PC.
(iii)	 When the report
in respect of a case to which Section 170 
applies, the police officer shall forward to the Magistrate along 
with the report, all the documents or relevant extracts thereof 
on which the prosecution proposes to rely other than those 
already sent to the Magistrate during investigation; and the 
statements recorded under Section 161 of all the persons 
whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses.

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(iv)	 In case of further investigation, the Police officer in charge shall 
forward to the Magistrate a further report or reports regarding 
such evidence in the form prescribed and shall also comply with 
the details mentioned in the above sub para (i) to (iii).
18.	 It is further directed that the officer in charge of the police stations in 
every State shall strictly comply with the afore-stated directions, and 
the non-compliance thereof shall be strictly viewed by the concerned 
courts in which the Police Reports are submitted.
19.	 Copy of this order be sent to all the Chief Secretaries of the States/
UTs as also to Registrar Generals of the High Courts for perusal and 
compliance. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly.
Headnotes prepared by: 
Result of the case: 
Vidhi Thaker, Hony. Associate Editor
Appeal disposed of 
(Verified by: Liz Mathew, Sr. Adv.)