R. SINGH. , J. ( 1 ) THE wife has filed a complaint against her husband and in-Jaws under sections 498a and 406 I. P. C. in connection with her Stridhan. The Magistrate passed following order on it as appears from Annexure 2. Seen the complaint, the matter requires thorough investigation, what is only possible thing. Police, S. O. /s. H. O. Kotwali is directed to register the case and investigate: It seems as if the above order has not been correctly given in the true copy. Anyway the substance is clear that the Magistrate directed the police to investigate the matter. Against it the husband and in laws have filed this application under section 482 Cr. P. C. They say that the aforesaid order of the Magistrate dated 18-4-1987 and the complaint which is Annexure 1 should be quashed. ( 2 ) THE complaint discloses a case the question at this stage is not whether there is any truth in the allegation made, but the question is whether on the basis of the allegation an offence has been alleged to have been committed. The complaint does show that Stridhan of the wife has been misappropriated and she has been maltreated for dowry. So there is no ground for quashing the complaint J. P. Sharma v. Vinod Kumar. ( 3 ) THE next argument is that the Magistrate could not have directed the police to investigate and it being a complaint he should have proceeded under Chapter XV of the Criminal Procedure Code which contains sections 200 to 203. The argument of the State counsel is that the Magistrate could have directed investigation under section 156 (3) Cr. P. C. ( 4 ) THE power to order police investigation under section 156 (3) is different from the power to direct investigation conferred by section 201 (1) Cr. P. C. The two operate in distinct spheres at different stages. The first is exercisable at the pre-cognizance stage, the second at the post-cognizance stage when the Magistrate is in session of the case. That is to say in the case of a complaint regarding commission of a cognizable offence, the power under section 155 (3) can be invoked by the Magistrate before he takes cognizance of the offence under section 190 (1) (a ). D. L. Reddy v. V. N. Reddy. That is to say in the case of a complaint regarding commission of a cognizable offence, the power under section 155 (3) can be invoked by the Magistrate before he takes cognizance of the offence under section 190 (1) (a ). D. L. Reddy v. V. N. Reddy. ( 5 ) IN the case before us it is clear from the impugned order that the Magistrate saw the complaint and without taking cognizance of the case referred the matter to the police. This could be under section 156 (3) Cr. P. C. ( 6 ) HENCE there is no illegality in the order passed by the Magistrate and this application deserves to be dismissed. Order: The application under section 482 Cr. P. C. is dismissed. .