Criminal Law
Cognizable Offence
An offence serious enough that police can register an FIR, investigate, and arrest without needing prior court permission.
For cognizable offences — generally the more serious crimes — the police have the power to start an investigation and make an arrest on their own authority, once an FIR is registered, without first seeking a magistrate's approval.
This is what makes an FIR meaningful for such offences: it directly triggers police action, in contrast to non-cognizable offences where the police need the magistrate's direction before investigating.
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