Cognizance of offences by Magistrates

(1) Except as hereinafter provided, any ²³⁴[Chief Metropolitan Magistrate,] ²³⁵[Metropolitan Magistrate], ²³⁶[Chief Judicial Magistrate, Magistrate of the first class, and any other Magistrate specially empowered in this behalf under sub-section (2) or (3)], may take cognizance of any offence-

(a) upon receiving a complaint of facts which constitute such offence;

(b) upon a report in writing of such facts made by any police-officer;

(c) upon information received from any person other than a police-officer, or upon his own knowledge or suspicion, that such offence has been committed.

²³⁷[(2) the Government may, and subject to any general or special order issued in this behalf by the High Court Division, the Chief Judicial Magistrate may empower any Magistrate of the second or third class to take cognizance under sub-section (1) clause (a) or clause (b) of offences which he may try or send for trial]

(3) The Government may empower any Magistrate of the ²³⁸[∗ ∗ ∗] second class to take cognizance under sub-section (1), clause (c), of offences for which he may try or ²³⁹[send] for trial.

²⁴⁰[(4) Notwithstanding anything contained to the contrary in this section or elsewhere in this Code, the Government may, by an order specifying the reasons and period stated therein, empower any Executive Magistrate to take cognizance under clause (a), (b) or (c) or sub-section (1), of offences and the Executive Magistrate shall send it for trial to the court of competent jurisdiction.]

²³⁴ The words and comma “Chief Metropolitan Magistrate,” before the words “Metropolitan Magistrate” were inserted by section 63(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act No. XXXII of 2009) (with effect from 1st November, 2007).

²³⁵ The words "Metropolitan Magistrate" were inserted by section 2 and Schedule of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance, 1976 (Ordinance No. LXXXVI of 1976)

²³⁶ The words, comma, brackets and figure “Chief Judicial Magistrate, Magistrate of the first class and any other Magistrate specially empowered in this behalf under sub-section (2) or (3)” were substituted for the words and comma “District Magistrate or Sub-divisional Magistrate and any other Magistrate specially empowered in this behalf” by section 63(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act No. XXXII of 2009) (with effect from 1st November, 2007).

²³⁷ Sub-section (2) was substituted for Sub-section (2) by section 63(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act No. XXXII of 2009) (with effect from 1st November, 2007).

²³⁸ The words “first or” were omitted by section 63(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act No. XXXII of 2009) (with effect from 1st November, 2007).

²³⁹ The word "send" was substituted, for the word "commit" by section 2 and Schedule of the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XLIX of 1978)

²⁴⁰ Sub-section (4) was added after sub-section (3) by section 63(d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act No. XXXII of 2009) (with effect from 1st November, 2007).