Further investigation after cognizance remains permissible where the Magistrate finds incomplete inquiry or missing material evidence.

Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure preserves the power of further investigation even after a police report has been filed, and that power is not exhausted by the Magistrate taking cognizance. A Magistrate may, in an appropriate case, direct the investigating officer to conduct further investigation and submit a further report where material witnesses remain unexamined or important documents have not been collected. The investigating agency is not functus officio merely because the charge-sheet has been filed. The Gujarat HC therefore held that the Magistrate was competent to order further investigation after cognizance, and the revision challenging that direction failed.

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Issues: Whether a Magistrate, after taking cognizance of an offence, can direct the investigating officer to make further investigation and submit a further report.

Analysis: Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 preserves the power of further investigation even after a police report has been forwarded. That power is not exhausted by the filing of the charge-sheet or by the Magistrate taking cognizance. The scheme of the Code, as explained in the cited Supreme Court decisions, recognises that the Magistrate may, in an appropriate case, require further investigation where material witnesses have not been examined or important documents have not been collected. The contention that the Magistrate becomes powerless after cognizance is inconsistent with the statutory provision permitting further investigation and with the settled view that the investigating agency is not functus officio merely because a report has already been filed.

Conclusion: The Magistrate was competent to direct further investigation after cognizance was taken, and the revision challenging that direction failed.

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