Subject: Code of Criminal Procedur-I

B.A.LL.B-VIIIth Sem
Subject Teacher: Dr. Md. Junaid
Teaching Material of Unit-III-(A-b)
Topic: Cognizable and Non-Cognizable Offence

Cognizable and Non-Cognizable Offence

The Criminal Procedure Code lays the rules for conduct of proceedings against any person who
has committed an offence under any Criminal law, whether it is I.P.C or other Criminal law.
Offence refers to an illegal act or crime that is punishable in nature and against which a
complaint can be registered with police or magistrate etc. An offence can be classified as a
cognizable offence and non-cognizable offence.

Classification of Offences

Depending on the nature and gravity of an offence they can be classified under any of the
following heads:

 Bailable and non-bailable offence

 Cognizable and non-cognizable offence.
 Compoundable and non compoundable offence

Cognizable offences:

According to Section-2 (c) " cognizable offence" means an offence for which, and" cognizable
case" means a case in which, a police officer may, in accordance with the First Schedule or under
any other law for the time being in force, arrest without warrant;

A cognizable offence is an offence in which the police officer as per the first schedule or under
any other law for the time being in force, can arrest the convict without a warrant and can start an
investigation without the permission of the court. Cognizable offences are generally heinous or
serious in nature such as murder, rape, kidnapping, theft, dowry death etc. The first information
report (FIR) is registered only in cognizable crimes.

Under section 154 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), a police officer is bound to register an FIR
in case of a cognizable crime. He can also conduct some kind of preliminary inquiry before
registering the FIR. In these offences, a convict is arrested and produced before the magistrate in
the stipulated time.

The Code of Criminal Procedure has no guidelines to determine a particular offence is

cognizable or non-cognizable. However, the Code also contains the Schedule I which refers to all
the offences under the Indian Penal Code and puts them into cognizable and non-cognizable
categories. Cognizable are serious offences. The seriousness of the offence leads for maximum
punishment. The First Schedule contains offences under the laws other than the Indian Penal
Code which are punishable with imprisonment for three years or more. They are punishable with
less than three years or with fine only.

They are usually offenses which are serious in nature.

Examples of Cognizable offence:

1. Waging or attempting to wage war, or abetting the waging of war against the government
of India,

2. Murder,

3. Rape,

4. Dowry Death,

5. Kidnapping,

6. Theft,

7. Criminal Breach of Trust,

8. Unnatural Offenses.

Non-Cognizable Offence
Section 2(l): “no- cognizable offence” means an offence for which, and “no- cognizable case”
means a case in which, a police officer has no authority to arrest without a warrant

“Non-cognizable offence” means an offence for which, and “non-cognizable case” means a case
in which, a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant. Such offences are minimal
offences where the injury done to the society is comparatively small. The aggrieved party
expected to file a complaint before criminal proceedings starts. The non-cognizable offences
contains more private wrong. Therefore, initiative is taken by citizen to prosecute the offender
and also collect the evidence. A police officer cannot arrest without a warrant and such an officer
has neither the duty nor the power to investigate into such offences without the authority given
by a Judicial Magistrate.

These offences are not much serious in nature.

Examples of Non-Cognizable offenses:

 Assault,

 Cheating,

 Forgery

Difference Between Cognizable And Non-Cognizable Offence

1. The offence in which the police suo motu takes cognizance of crime and also does not
need approval of court, known as a cognizable offence. While, in non-cognizable, police
has no authority to arrest a person for crime on its own, without prior approval of court.

2. In cognizable, the police can arrest a person without any warrant. While, in case of non-
cognizable offence, a warrant must needed for arrest of person.

3. In cognizable, court’s order is not required to start an investigation. Conversely, in the

non-cognizable offence, first of all, court’s order should be obtained for undertaking an
investigation.

4. Cognizable are heinous crimes, whereas non-cognizable offences are not so serious.
 5. Cognizable encompasses murder, rape, theft, kidnapping, counterfeiting, etc. On the
contrary, non-cognizable offences include offences like forgery, cheating, assault,
defamation and so forth.

6. For a cognizable, one can file FIR or make a complaint to the magistrate. Unlike, in case
of non-cognizable offence one can only make a complaint to the magistrate.

7. Offences which are in the nature of private wrongs, though serious in nature, are
considered to be non-cognizable. For instance, bigamy, adultery etc. are all punishable
with imprisonment for more than five years’ term but are made non-cognizable. The
reasoning is that making these offences cognizable might involve too much risk of police
intervention into the private family of the individuals.
8. Some offences under Chapter XI of IPC relating to giving of false evidence and offences
against justice are considered non-cognizable even when the punishment makes them
serious offences. This is to prevent police intervention during conduction of court
proceedings.

CRPC-Schedule-I-Classification of Offence

Schedule-I of CRPC classifies offence on basis of Bailable, Non-bailable, and Cognizable and
non-cognizable.

Whether an offence is cognizable or non-cognizable, it is expressly mentioned in First schedule

of CRPC. All offences shall be classified only on the basis of First Schedule.

Rule 2 of Schedule-I Provides: in this Schedule,

1. the expression “Magistrate 1st Class” and “Any Magistrate” include Metropolitan
Magistrates but not Executive Magistrate;

2. the word “cognizable” stands for “a police officer may arrest without warrant”; and

3. the word “non-cognizable” stands for “a police officer shall not arrest without warrant”.

In State of West Bengal v. Joginder Mallik (1979, )the court held that where the alleged offence
is not cognizable according to the First Schedule to the Code or if it has not been made
cognizable by the Act creating the offence, it will not be considered as cognizable simply
because the police was empowered to arrest the person for commission of offence without a
warrant.

Probable Questions

1. Define Cognizable and Non-Cognizable offence and bring out difference between both.
2. Discuss the basis of classification of Offence on basis of Cognizable and Non-Cognizable
offence.