CrPC § 157 — Procedure where cognizable offence suspected

Statutory text (English)

(1) If, from 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 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 1[not being below such rank as the 2[Provincial Government] may, by
general or special order, prescribe in this behalf] to proceed, to the spot, to investigate the facts and
circumstances of the case, 3[and, if necessary, to take measures] for the discovery and arrest of the offender:

Provided as follows:-
(a) Where local investigation dispensed with. when any information as to the commission of any
such offence is given against any person by name and the case is not of a serious nature, the
officer in charge of a police-station need not proceed in person or depute a subordinate officer
to make an investigation on the spot;
(b) Where police-officer in charge sees no sufficient ground for investigation. if it appears to the
officer in charge of a police-station that there is no sufficient ground for entering on an
investigation, he shall not investigate the case.

(2) In each of the cases mentioned in clauses (a) and (b) of the proviso to sub-section

(1), the officer in
charge of the police-station shall state in his said report his reasons for not fully complying with the
requirements of that sub-section, 4[and, in the case mentioned in clause (b), such officer shall also forthwith
notify to the informant, if any, in such manner as may be prescribed by the 5[Provincial Government], the
fact that he will not investigate the case or cause it to be investigated.]

Source and verification

Source citation: CrPC (Act V of 1898) s.157: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE' (Act No. V of 1898, last amended 2017-02-16), p. 79, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 79) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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