CrPC § 202 — Postponement of issue of process

Statutory text (English)

(1) Any Court, on receipt of a complaint of an offence of
which it is authorised to take cognizance, or which has been sent to it under section 190, sub-section

(3), or
transferred to it under section 191 or section 192, may, if it thinks fit, for reasons to be recorded, postpone
the issue of process for compelling the attendance of the person complained against and either inquire into
the case itself or direct any inquiry or investigation to
be made by
[any Justice of the Peace, or by] a police-officer, or by such other person as it thinks fit, for the
purpose of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the complaint:

Provided that, save where the complaint has been made by a Court, no such direction shall be made
unless the complainant has been examined on oath under the provisions of section 200.

(2) A Court of Session may, instead of directing an investigation under the provisions of sub-section

(1),
direct the investigation to be made by any Magistrate subordinate to it for the purpose of ascertaining the
truth or falsehood of the complaint.

(3) If any inquiry or investigation under this section is made by a person not being a Magistrate, 1[or
Justice of the Peace] or a police-officer, such person shall exercise all the powers conferred by this Code on
an officer-in-charge of a police-station, except that he shall not have power to arrest without warrant.

(4) Any Court inquiring into a case under this section may, if it thinks fit, take evidence of witnesses on
oath,]

Source and verification

Source citation: CrPC (Act V of 1898) s.202: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE' (Act No. V of 1898, last amended 2017-02-16), p. 101, 102, 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. 101, 102) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

Read this provision with care

This is a public reference to a stored statute record, not legal advice or a case-specific interpretation. Check the latest official gazette, applicable amendments and jurisdiction before relying on the text. A citation and verification label describe the record in this app; they cannot confirm that no later change has occurred. For a real legal matter, consult a licensed advocate.

Use the full CrPC section index to compare nearby provisions, or return to search.