Investigation of a non-cognizable offence without prior Magistrate’s order is unsustainable.

On 23 February 2026, police alleged that petitioner No. 1 was conducting matka gambling and seized ₹980, a matka chit and a ball pen; the complaint further alleged that he supplied matka lists to petitioner No. 2.

Police registered a non-cognizable case and later filed a charge sheet for an offence under Section 78(3) of the Karnataka Police Act, resulting in C.C. No. 839/2026.

The petitioners sought to quash the Magistrate’s order taking cognizance and issuing process, contending that the police had acted without the Magistrate’s prior permission to investigate the non-cognizable offence.

1. Whether the police could investigate the alleged non-cognizable offence without an order from the Magistrate under Section 174(2) of the BNSS.

2. Whether, in the absence of material showing that the Magistrate had granted permission, the order taking cognizance and issuing process should be quashed.

Section 174(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 provides that a police officer may not investigate a non-cognizable case without an order from a Magistrate empowered to try or commit the case for trial.

The Court treated the offence alleged under Section 78(3) of the Karnataka Police Act as non-cognizable and relied on the approach taken by a Coordinate Bench in Criminal Petition No. 101997/2019, which had quashed proceedings in a similar case.

The petition was brought under Section 528 of the BNSS.

Although the FIR recorded that permission had been received from the Magistrate, the Court found no application or requisition seeking permission, and no Magistrate’s order authorising the investigation, in the material before it.

Because the alleged offence was non-cognizable, the investigation required prior Magistrate authorisation under Section 174(2) of the BNSS. In its absence, the Court held that the cognizance and ensuing proceedings could not stand; the similar decision of the Coordinate Bench supported that conclusion.

Any pending interim application was disposed of as no longer surviving.