JUDGMENT : ( 1. ) THIS is an application for grant of bail by one of the accused persons who has been arrested by the police Gaisabad for the offences under sections 302, 307, 297/397, 324, 323 and 338 all read with sections 149, 147, 148 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. ( 2. ) AT the outset it may be mentioned that the learned counsel for the accused-applicant made it clear that he was not arguing the application on merits regarding the allegation of the offences against the accused applicant and confined his argument only to the legal contention as shall be indicated hereinafter. ( 3. ) THE learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the accused-applicant was arrested by the police on 18-7-1978; on 3-8-1978, an application for bail was filed on behalf of the applicant which was rejected on the ground that investigation was on; on 16-8-1978 an incomplete challan was filed by the police in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Damoh; whereafter another application for bail was filed in the Court of Session at damoh which has been rejected by that Court vide its order dated 28-8-1978 in bail application case No. 220 of 1978 on the ground that the challan was incomplete. He further submitted that after 7-9-1978, when this Court ordered for the calling of the record of the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, as was requested by the counsel for parties, for the hearing of the application which was filed on 31-8-1978, the Chief Judicial Magistrate has committed the case to the Court of Session on the basis of the incomplete challan that was filed on 16-8-1978 on an application being made by the prosecution that no further investigation is to be carried by it except that the reports of the Chemical Examiner and Serologist, as already stated in the challan dated 16-8-1978, are to be received. ( 4. ( 4. ) ON the aforesaid facts, the learned counsel raised the following contentions; (1) That according to section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (hereinafter for short referred to as the new Code), a challan in the form prescribed in it has to be filed only after the completion of the investigation and it should be accompanied by (a) all documents or relevant extract thereof on which the prosecution relies; and (b) the statements recorded under section 161 of all the persons to whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses. In the instant case, as mentioned in the challan itself, the investigation is not completed inasmuch as the prosecution has yet to receive (i) the reports of the Chemical Exa-miner and the Serologist and (ii) has to verify the defence of alibi raised by the accused-applicant in the course of investigation. Thus, as the investigation is still on and 60 days have expired on 16-9-1978 that is the date of argument, calculated from the date of arrest 18-7-1978, the accused was entitled to be released on bail by virtue of sub-section (2) of section 167 of the Code. (2) That the order of commitment passed by the Chief Judicial magistrate during the pendency of this application on 8-9-1978 does not deprive the accused-applicant of his right to be released on bail under sub-section (2) of section 167 of the Code as the committing Court could not take cognizance and pass the order of commitment on the incomplete challan. (3) That even assuming, an incomplete challan could be filed or that the challan was complete, the Magistrate had no authority to remand the accused to custody pending the committal order; the proceedings before the committing Magistrate are not the inquiry proceedings. The committing Court has to make no inquiry under the Code. (4) That even after the commitment, the position of incomplete challan does not change and therefore, the right of the accused to be released on bail under the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 167 remains unaffected. ( 5. The committing Court has to make no inquiry under the Code. (4) That even after the commitment, the position of incomplete challan does not change and therefore, the right of the accused to be released on bail under the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 167 remains unaffected. ( 5. ) THE learned Deputy Advocate General appearing on behalf of the state combating the arguments of the learned counsel for the applicant contended : (i) that merely because in the challan filed on 16-8-1978, it was written that further investigation regarding the defence plea is on, the additional papers with regard to that and the reports of the Chemical Examiner and Serologist shall be filed later on, would not make the challan and the investigation incomplete. The challan filed was a complete challan, and (ii) that in this application, which is for bail, the question about the validity of the committal order cannot be challenged and (iii) that after the filing of the challan by virtue of section 309 of the Code, the Magistrate had the authority to remand the accused to custody as it is a remand pending the inquiry on the question whether the accused should be committed for trial. ( 6. ) BEFORE dilating on the merits of the contentions, I would like to mention that vide order dated 7-9-1978, the record of the Chief Judicial magistrate, Damoh was called for, but the records of the Court of Additional sessions Judge have been received. Certified copy of charge sheet along with the following documents were filed on behalf of the accused-applicant. (i) List of accused persons (ii) List of witnesses (iii) List of articles seized (iv) List of documents attached with the charge sheet. (v) Order sheet dated 16-8-1978 and 30-8-1978 (vi) Order sheet dated 8-9-1978. ( 7. ) THE application dated 8-9-1978 is not before this Court but the order of committees contained in the copy of order sheet dated 8-9-1978. Both the learned counsel submitted that the record of the Court of the Chief judicial Magistrate was not necessary for hearing of this application. ( 8. ( 7. ) THE application dated 8-9-1978 is not before this Court but the order of committees contained in the copy of order sheet dated 8-9-1978. Both the learned counsel submitted that the record of the Court of the Chief judicial Magistrate was not necessary for hearing of this application. ( 8. ) THE Central question for decision is whether the challan in question was an incomplete challan and irrespective of the fact that the case has been committed to the Court of Session for trial, the position remains that the investigation is not complete and therefore, under the proviso to subsection (2) of section 167 of the Code the accused-applicant is entitled to be released on bail. The decision mainly calls for an interpretation of the word "investigation". ( 9. ) IN a criminal case, there are 3 successive stages-investigation, inquiry and trial. The criminal cases are divided in 2 classes-cognizable and non-cognizable. The powers of the police with regard to the taking up of the investigation differs with the category of the offence i. e. cognizable and non-cognizable. In the case of cognizable offence, as provided, the police by virtue of sections 154 and 156 of the Code has the statutory right to investigate without an authority from the Magistrate and this statutory power of the police cannot be interfered with by the Court as the function of the Court begins when a police report is filed before it and not until then. In a non-cognizable case, the police has no right to investigate except under the orders of the Court as is evident from the provisions contained in section 155 of the Code. At this stage, it would be useful to advert to the decision of their Lordships of the Supreme Court in State of West Bengal v. S. N. Basak, (AIR 1963 S C 447.) wherein their Lordships of the Supreme Court have held as under: "the powers of investigation into cognizable offences are contained in Chapter XIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 154 which is in that Chapter deals with information in cognizable offences and section 156 with investigation into such offences and under these sections the police has the statutory right to investigate into the circumstances of any alleged cognizable offence without authority from a Magistrate and this statutory power of the police to investigate cannot be interfered with by the exercise of power under section 439 or under the inherent power of the Court under section 361-A of the Criminal Procedure Code. As to the powers of the judiciary in regard to the statutory right of the police to investigate, the Privy Council in 71 Ind. App. 203 at page 212 (AIR 1945 p C 18 at page 22), observed as follows :-"the functions of the judiciary and the police are complementary, not overlapping and the combination of individual liberty with due observance of law and order is only to be obtained by leaving each to exercise its own function, always, of course subject to the right of the court to intervene in an appropriate case when moved under section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code to give directions in the nature of habeas corpus. In such a case as the present, however, the Courts functions begin when a charge is preferred before it and not until then. It has sometimes been thought that section 561a has given increased powers to the court which it did not possess before that section was enacted. But this is not so. The section gives no new powers, it only provides that those which the Court already inherently possesses shall be preserved and is inserted, as their Lordships think, lest it should be considered that the only powers possessed by the Court are those expressly conferred by the criminal Procedure Code and that no inherent power had survived the passing of that Act. " ( 10. ) IT may be mentioned that sections 154 and 156 of the Code of criminal Procedure, 1898 (hereinafter referred to as the Old Code) referred in the fore quoted judgment of the Supreme Court is corresponding to subsection (1) of section 15 of the new Code, and with a slight variation to section 156 of the new Code respectively. ( 11. ) I now turn to the meaning of the word investigation. ( 11. ) I now turn to the meaning of the word investigation. The dictionary meaning of the word investigation is a systematic cum minute attempt to learn the facts about something complex or hidden; it is often formal and official (see Hamlyns Encyclopaedic Word Dictionary 1972, page 836 ). There is a definition given of this word investigation in the new Code also which reads as under : " "investigation" includes all the proceedings under this Code for the collection of evidence conducted by a police officer or by any person (other than a Magistrate) who is authorised by a Magistrate in this behalf. " ( 12. ) IT may be mentioned that the aforesaid definition in the new Code is verbatim reproduction of clause (1) of the Old section 4. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court had an occasion to consider in H. N. Rishbud v. State of Delhi, (AIR 1955 S C 196.) as to what are the various steps in investigation with reference to the filing of a charge sheet under section 173 of the Old Code wherein the same terminology "report of Police-Officer".- (1) Every investigation under this Chapter shall be completed without unnecessary delay, and as soon as it is completed, the officer in charge of the police station shall- (a) 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, setting forth the names of the parties, the nature of the information and the names of the persons who appear to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case; and stating whether the accused (if arrested) has been forwarded in custody or has been released on his bond, and if so, whether with or without sureties, and 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," as is used in subsections (1) and (2) of section 173 of the new Code was employed with the only exception that the requirement of clause (d) of the specific mention of the opinion, as is provided in the new Code was not there. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court had in this decision observed as under; "thus, under the Code investigation consists generally of the following steps; (1) Proceeding to the spot, (2) Ascertainment of the facts and circumstances of the case, (3) Discovery and arrest of the suspected offender, (4) Collection of evidence relating to the commission of the offence which may consist of (a) the examination of various persons (including the accused) and the reduction of their statements into writing if the officer thinks fit, (b) the search of places or seizure of things considered necessary for the investigation and to be produced at the trial, and (5) Formation of the opinion as to whether on the material collected there is a case to place the accused before a Magistrate for trial and if so taking the necessary steps for the same by the filing of a charge-sheet under section 173. The scheme of the Code also shows that while it is permissible for an officer in charge of a police station to depute some subordinate officer to conduct some of these steps in the investigation, the responsibility for every one of these steps is that of the person in the situation of the officer in charge of the police station, it having been clearly provided in section 168 that when a subordinate officer makes an investigation he should report the result to the officer in charge of the police station. It is also clear that the final step in the investigation, viz. , the formation of the opinion as to whether or not there is a case to place the accused on trial is to be that of the officer in charge of the police station. " (emphasis supplied) ( 13. ) IT would now at this stage be pertinent to reproduce the relevant part of section 167: "167. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours.- (1) Whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody, and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed. " (emphasis supplied) ( 13. ) IT would now at this stage be pertinent to reproduce the relevant part of section 167: "167. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours.- (1) Whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody, and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed. * * * * * * * (2) The Magistrate to whom an accused person is forwarded under this section may, whether he has or has not jurisdiction to try the case, from time to time, authorise the detention of the accused in such custody as such Magistrate thinks fit, for a term not exceeding fifteen days in the whole; and if he has no jurisdiction to try the case or commit it for trial, and considers further detention unnecessary, he may order the accused to be forwarded to a Magistrate having such jurisdiction: provided that- (a) the Magistrate may authorise detention of the accused person, otherwise than in custody of the police, beyond the period of fifteen days if he is satisfied that adequate grounds exist for doing so, but no magistrate shall authorise the detention of the accused person in custody under this section for a total period exceeding sixty days, and on the expiry of the said period of sixty days, the accused person shall be released on bail if he is prepared to and does furnish bail; and every person released on bail under this section shall be deemed to be so released under the provisions of Chapter XXXIII for the purpose of that Chapter; ** ** ** ( 14. ) PLAIN natural construction of the fore quoted section is that the longest period of detention in the police custody is 15 days and the magistrate on being satisfied about the adequacy of the grounds for further detention according to the proviso (a) to sub-section (2) may extend the period of detention otherwise than in the police custody, but the total period of detention shall not exceed 60 days. If it is not possible to complete the investigation within a period of 60 days, the accused will be entitled to be released on bail (See Natabar Parida v. State of Orissa, (A I R 1975 S C 1465. ).) ( 15. ) WHAT the police has to do after having reached the final stage in the investigation is provided in sections 169 and 170. ).) ( 15. ) WHAT the police has to do after having reached the final stage in the investigation is provided in sections 169 and 170. Out of these two sections which would apply is dependent upon the nature of the opinion formed. Section 173 provides instructions for both these sections. All these sections ought to be read together. The material part of these sections are reproduced below: "169. Release of accused when evidence deficient.-If, upon an investigation under this Chapter, 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. . . 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 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. ** ** ** ** 173. Report of police officer on completion of investigation.- (1) Every investigation under this Chapter shall be completed without unnecessary delay. (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 be 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. ** ** (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. (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. ** ** ** (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 ). " ( 16. ) ON the clear reading of sections 169, 170 and 173 of the Code, it is obtainable that section 169 deals with cases of deficient evidence; section 170 with cases where there is sufficient evidence and the accused is sent up for trial, and section 173 provides the manner and the form in which the report, may it be under section 169 or 170, has to be submitted and in case the report is under section 170, then what further papers are to be attached along with the report. Though there is no expression used as final report and charge sheet/challan, but these expressions are the judicially recognised expressions for the report submitted under sections 169 and 170 respectively. The expression used in section 173 (2) is police report. This expression police report for the first time is defined in the Code in section 2 (r) as under : " "police report" means a report forwarded by a police officer to a magistrate under subsection (2) of section 173. " It is not in the Old Code. The expression used in section 173 (2) is police report. This expression police report for the first time is defined in the Code in section 2 (r) as under : " "police report" means a report forwarded by a police officer to a magistrate under subsection (2) of section 173. " It is not in the Old Code. Thus, according to this definition the report, in the form prescribed by the State Government, should contain the particulars mentioned in clauses (a) to (g) of sub-section (2) and forwarded by a police officer to a Magistrate. ( 17. ) ON the combined reading of sections 169, 170 and 173 and the definition of police report in section 2 (r), what is obtainable is that a report is to be filed on the formation of the opinion by the police officer; so it is the opinion of the police, not of the Court or any other authority and that is the final step in the investigation. This conclusion finds support from the decision of their Lordships of the Supreme Court in State of West Bengal v. S. N. Basak and H. N. Rishbvd v. State of Delhi the relevant observations whereof are also reproduced in paragraphs 9 and 12 of this judgment, especially the emphasised portion. ( 18. ) IT is in the back drop of the foregoing discussion as to the meaning of investigation, the powers of investigation and the final step in an investigation, the stage upto which the proviso (a) to sub-section (2) of section 167 shall hold the field has to be determined, and the questions framed by me in the light of the arguments of the parties in paragraph 4 for decision, have to be answered. ( 19. ) THE relevant portion of the charge sheet is set out below : ( 20. ( 19. ) THE relevant portion of the charge sheet is set out below : ( 20. ) ON the basis of the head note "report of police officer on completion of investigation", the expression in clause (i) of sub-section (2) "as soon as it is completed" and the requirement in sub-section (5) "shall forward to the Magistrate along with the report" of section 173, it was argued by the learned counsel for the applicant that as the documents reports of the chemical Examiner and the Serologist are yet to be received and the genuineness of the documents filed on behalf of the defence regarding the alibi of the accused-applicant is in the process of scrutiny by the police and for all these, the police has stated in the charge sheet itself that they will be filed afterwards by way of supplementary challan clearly indicate that the challan filed does not fulfil the requirements of a complete challan. His argument was that the challan and investigation would be complete when all these documents are in the possession of the police and filed along with the charge sheet according to sub-section (5) of section 173. He argued that there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure for filing of any document on which the police wants to rely after the filing of the challan in the Court of Session. ( 21. ) IN the police report/challan, the police has stated : this clearly indicates that the police has formed its opinion and as already discussed the touch stone of finality or completed report is whether the police has formed its opinion. To iterate it is the opinion of the police and not of any other authority. The function of the Court begins after the challan is filed. ( 22. ) IN the instant case, the only things that the police said had remained to be done were; (i) the submission of the report of the Chemical Examiner and Serologist, which were not received; and (ii) further material, if available in support of polices opinion which it had already arrived at regarding the non-genuineness of the alibi set up. ( 23. ) WITH regard to the first (i), the police had nothing to do with the collection of evidence by it; the police from its side has collected the evidence. ( 23. ) WITH regard to the first (i), the police had nothing to do with the collection of evidence by it; the police from its side has collected the evidence. % Amongst the various requirements of challan, the one immediately preceding is "the names of the persons who appear to be acquainted with the circums-tances of the case. " The Chemical Examiner and the Serologist are not the persons who are acquainted with the circumstances of the case. Similarly, with regard to the second (ii), the police has already formed its opinion that the documents filed by the accused-applicant are not genuine and taking them into consideration the police has formed its opinion and filed the challan, what has been said to be in process of collection is the further material available to strengthen that opinion. ( 24. ) THE expression used in section 170 under which the accused is sent up for trial is "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 grounds as aforesaid "as aforesaid" (emphasis supplied by me ). The expression used is sufficient evidence not all the possible evidence and what is sufficient is again a matter for the police for submitting the report. ( 25. ) IN this view of the matter, though the police had mentioned that it shall file a supplementary challan, the challan in question fulfils the requirements of sub-section (2) of section 173 and as such it cannot be said to be an incomplete challan. 1 find support of this view from the decision of their lordships of the Supreme Court in Tara Singh v. The State. The relevant observation whereof is set out below: "when the police drew up their challan of 2-10-1949 and submitted it to the Court on the 3rd, they had in fact completed their investigation except for the report of the Imperial Serologist and the drawing of a sketch map of the occurrence. It is always permissible for the Magistrate to take additional evidence not set out in the challan. Therefore, the mere fact that second challan was put up in on 5th October would not necessarily vitiate the first. It is always permissible for the Magistrate to take additional evidence not set out in the challan. Therefore, the mere fact that second challan was put up in on 5th October would not necessarily vitiate the first. All that section 173 (l) (a) requires is that as soon as the police investigation under Chapter 14 of the Code is complete, there should be forwarded to the Magistrate a report in the prescribed form; setting forth the names of the parties, the nature of the information and the names of the persons who appear to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case. " all that appears to have been done in the report of the 2nd October which the police called their incomplete challan. The witnesses named in the second challan of 5th October were not witnesses who were "acquainted with the circumstances of the case". They were merely formal witnesses on other matters. So also in the supplementary challan of the 19th. The witnesses named are the 1st Class Magistrate, Amritsar, who recorded the dying declaration, and the Assistant Civil Surgeon. They are not witnesses who were "acquainted with the circumstances of the case". Accordingly, the challan which the police called an incomplete challan was in fact a completed report of the kind which section 173 (l) (a) of the Code contemplates. There is no force in this argument, and we hold that the Magistrate took proper cognizance of the matter. " ( 26. ) IT may be mentioned here that section 173 (1) (a) of the Old Code was practically almost the same as sub-section (2) of the present Code. I have reproduced section 173 (1) (a) of the Old Code in paragraph 12 and section 173 (1) and (2) of the present Code in paragraph 15 of this order. ( 27. ) I will now consider the implication of sub-section (5) of section 173 of the New Code. Here it would be useful to iterate that police report as defined in section 2 (r) of the New Code is what is mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 173, of the New Code. It does not say that it would constitute a report only when it is accompanied by the papers referred to in sub-section (5) of section 173 of the new Code. It does not say that it would constitute a report only when it is accompanied by the papers referred to in sub-section (5) of section 173 of the new Code. This conclusion is reinforced from the expressions "such report is" "shall forward" "along with the report". These expressions go to show that the papers referred to in sub-section (5) are not the integral part of the report itself. ( 28. ) IN the light of the foregoing discussion, I am of the view that the challan filed by the police on 16-8-1978 was a complete challan. ( 29. ) THE bed-rock and central core of the argument of the learned counsel for the applicant was that the challan filed was incomplete challan that is contention No. 1 from amongst the contentions subsumed in paragraph 4 of this order. The contentions Nos. 2 and 4 are pen-umbra. The contention No. 1 I have repelled by holding that the challan filed in the instant case was complete. It is not necessary to express any opinion on contentions Nos. 2 and 4. I, therefore, express no opinion on these contentions. With regard to contention No. 3 also, it is not necessary to express any opinion for the decision of this application, as after taking cognizance, the case has been committed for trial. ( 30. ) THE learned counsel for the applicant had referred to quite a good number of authorities in the course of his arguments, but as they did not relate to the question as to what is a complete challan, it is not necessary to refer them. ( 31. ) IN the result, the application is hereby rejected. Application rejected.