( 1 ) THE short point involved in this criminal petition is whether a Magistrate before whom a private complaint is filed is empowered to refer the complaint for investigation under Sec. 156 (3) of the Crlpc, if the offences disclosed in the complaint are exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions. ( 2 ) THE facts necessary for deciding the question involved in the petition may be stated as under: The petitioner herein filed a private - complaint under Sec. 200 Crlpc on 26-8-77 against respondents-2 to 19 before the Munsiff and JMFC, Ranebennur alleging commission of offences punishable under Secs. 395, 149, 447 and 504 read with Sec. 34 IPC. After the complaint was filed, the Magistrate, under his order d/ 29-8-77, referred the case to the Circle Inspector of Police, Ranebennur for investigation and report under Section 156 (3) Crlpc. ( 3 ) THE question now for consideration will be whether this order referring the complaint for investigation under Sec. 156 (3) Crlpc is valid in law. ( 4 ) SRI A. H. Bhagavan, the learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that clause (a) of the proviso to sub-sec (1) of Sec. 202, crlpc is a statutory bar for referring the complaint to the police for investigation since one of the offences alleged against the accused is exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions. This contention will have no force for the reasons I presently show. The procedure to be followed in complaints to the Magistrate is laid down in Chapter XV of the Cr. PC. , which contains S. 200 to S. 203. It is provided under S. 200 that a magistrate taking cognizance of an offence on complaint shall examine upon oath the complainant and the witnesses present, if any, and the substance of such examination shall be reduced to writing and it shall be signed by the complaint and the witnesses, and also by the Magistrate. An exception is made for the examination of the complainant and the witnesses if the complaint is made in writing to the Magistrate in the cases referred to in cls (a)and (b) of the 1st proviso to S. 200. S. 202 Crpc will come into play after the Magistrate takes cognizance of the offence u|s. 200 and before issue of process to the accused. S. 202 Crpc will come into play after the Magistrate takes cognizance of the offence u|s. 200 and before issue of process to the accused. If after taking cognizance of the offence, the Magistrate thinks fit in a given ease to postpone the issue of process against the accused, he can either ipquire into the case himself or direct an investigation to be made by a police officer or by such other person as he thinks fit for the purpose of deciding whether or not there is sufficient ground for proceeding. However, in a case which is exclusively triable by the court of sessions, the Magistrate is not empowered to give any direction for investigation in view of the provision contained ir, clause (a) of the proviso to sub-sec. (1) of S. 202 Cr. pc. On the other hand, he himself should conduct an inquiry as provided under the proviso to sub-sec. (2) of Section 202 Crlpc. ( 5 ) S. 156 is found in Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal Procedure under the head 'information to the police and their powers to investigate'. It is provided under S. 156 (3) that any Magistrate empowered under s. 190 may order an investigation of a cognizable; case by the police. The power of the Magistrate to direct an investigation under S. 156 (3) is an independent power outside the scope of Chapter-XV. However, if the magistrate once takes cognizance of an offence on complaint under S. 200, then he could act only under the other Sections of Chap. XV. On the other hand, if the Magistrate does not take cognizance of an offence on a complaint filed under S. 200, he is empowered to refer the complaint for investigation by the police under S. 156 (3) Cr. PC. In such a case, the prohibition contained in clause (a) of the proviso to sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 202 would not come into play. ( 6 ) IN the instant case, admittedly the Magistrate did not take cognizance of the offence on the complaint filed by the petitioner. He straightaway referred the complaint for investigation under S. 156 (3) Cr. PC. That being so, the contention urged by the learned counsel for the petitioner is clearly unsustainable. Consequently the petition also fails and the same is dismissed. --- *** --- .