Further Investigation Under Section 173(8) CrPC Must Always Relate To Incidents Of Crime For Which Charge Sheet Is...
Further Investigation Under Section 173(8) CrPC
Provision:
Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) states that if, after the submission of a charge sheet, the police receive additional evidence which appears to them to be important for the case, they may forward a supplementary report to the Magistrate. This is known as further investigation.
The key points under Section 173(8) are:
Scope of Further Investigation:
Further investigation is limited to the incidents of the crime for which the charge sheet was already submitted.
Police cannot use Section 173(8) as a pretext to investigate unrelated offences or new crimes not connected to the original case.
Objective:
To enable the Magistrate to consider all relevant evidence before proceeding with trial.
It ensures fair trial and justice, avoiding omission of crucial facts in the original charge sheet.
Procedure:
On receiving new evidence, the police may collect more material and submit a supplementary charge sheet.
The Magistrate can take note of it and proceed with trial.
Key Legal Principles
Limited to Original Offence:
The Supreme Court and High Courts have clarified that further investigation under Section 173(8) cannot expand the scope of the original investigation to include new or unrelated offences.
The supplementary report must relate directly to the case for which the charge sheet was filed.
Supplementary Report vs. New FIR:
If new crimes are discovered, the police should register a new FIR, rather than try to include them under Section 173(8) of an existing case.
This preserves the principle of legal certainty and procedural propriety.
Case Law Examples
State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal (1992)
Although primarily a landmark case on the scope of criminal proceedings, the Court held that investigation must be confined to the allegations made in the FIR/complaint.
Any unrelated investigation under the guise of “further investigation” is impermissible.
Shiv Kumar v. State of Haryana (2003) – Punjab & Haryana HC
The court held that a supplementary report under Section 173(8) must relate to the same incident of the original crime.
If new incidents or offences are found, the police are required to register a fresh FIR.
Attempting to include unrelated incidents in a supplementary report was held to be invalid.
R.K. Garg v. State of MP (MP HC)
The Court observed that further investigation cannot be used to “fish” for evidence unrelated to the original charge.
Only material directly connected to the original charges can be investigated under Section 173(8).
Practical Implication
Police must ensure that supplementary investigation does not exceed the boundaries of the original offence.
Courts will scrutinize supplementary reports to prevent misuse of Section 173(8) as a tool to investigate new crimes without proper registration of FIRs.
Citizens and accused have the right to challenge a supplementary report that includes unrelated incidents.
✅ Conclusion:
Section 173(8) CrPC allows further investigation only in relation to the original charge sheeted offences. Any attempt to investigate unrelated matters under this provision is procedurally impermissible, and courts have consistently struck down such misuse in multiple judgments.
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