Criminal Law
Non-Cognizable Offence
A relatively minor offence where police cannot investigate or arrest without the magistrate's prior permission.
For non-cognizable offences, a police station typically records the complaint in a general diary rather than an FIR, and cannot start investigating or make an arrest until a magistrate specifically directs it to do so.
A complainant in such a case usually needs to approach the magistrate directly (often through a private complaint) to get the process moving, rather than relying solely on the police station.
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