Karnataka High Court
Sri Subbaiah vs State Of Karnataka on 28 July, 2026
Author: Suraj Govindaraj
Bench: Suraj Govindaraj
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®
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 28TH DAY OF JULY, 2026
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ
WRIT PETITION NO. 21921 OF 2026 (GM-POLICE)
BETWEEN:
SRI SUBBAIAH
S/O YALLAIAH
AGED ABOUT 51 YEARS
R/AT KUMBARAGERI MADIGARA VILLAGE,
YESALURU HOBLI,
SAKLESHPURA TALUK,
HASSAN DISTRICT-573201
...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. SAMPATH KUMAR A V, ADVOCATE)
AND:
Digitally signed 1. STATE OF KARNATAKA
by SHWETHA BY YESALURU POLICE STATION
RAGHAVENDRA
HASSAN DISTRICT
Location: HIGH
COURT OF REP. BY SPP
KARNATAKA HIGH COURT BUILDING
BANGALORE-01
2. SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE,
HASSAN DISTRICT, R C ROAD,
OPP. GOVT HOSPITAL,
HASSAN 573201
3. POLICE SUB-INSPECTOR
YESALUR POLICE STATION,
SAKALESHPURA TALUK,
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HASSAN DISTRICT-573137.
...RESPONDENTS
(BY SMT. SARITHA KULKARNI, AGA)
THIS WP IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 & 227 OF THE
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO DIRECTING THE YESLER
POLICE TO FILE FINAL REPORT/ CHARGESHEET IN
CONNECTION TO UDR NO. 22/2023, BEFORE THE ADDL. CIVIL
JUDGE AND JMFC, COURT, SAKALESHPURA TO ENABLE THE
PETITIONER TO FILE A PROTEST PETITION.
THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY
HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ
ORAL ORDER
1. Learned AGA is directed to accept notice for the
respondents.
2. The petitioner is before this Court seeking for the
following reliefs:
“a. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or in
the nature thereof or any other appropriate writ,
directing the Yesler police to file Final report /
chargesheet in connection to UDR. NO. 22/2023,
before the Addl. Civil Judge & JMFC Court,
Sakaleshapura to enable the petitioner to file a
protest petition in the interest of Justice and equity.
b. To pass any such order as this Hon’ble court
deems fit in the circumstances of the case in the
interest of justice and Equity.”
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3. One Santhosh died on 09.12.2023. A complaint was
lodged alleging that his death had occurred due to the
failure to administer proper and necessary medical
treatment. Based on the said complaint, an Unnatural
Death Report (UDR) was registered as UDR No.22/2023
under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973 (CrPC). Thereafter, an inquest was conducted by
the Executive Magistrate in accordance with Section 174
of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), and an
Inquest Report was submitted on 10.12.2023. However,
no final report has been filed by the jurisdictional police
before the jurisdictional Magistrate in respect of the said
proceedings. It is in these circumstances that the
petitioner has approached this Court seeking the
aforesaid reliefs.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that once
proceedings are initiated under Section 174 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), the inquest
conducted by the Executive Magistrate constitutes only
one part of the investigative process. According to him,
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the Inquest Report submitted by the Executive Magistrate
cannot be treated as the final report. Upon completion of
the investigation, it is incumbent upon the jurisdictional
police to submit a final report before the jurisdictional
Magistrate in accordance with law, taking into
consideration the findings recorded in the Inquest Report
as well as the material collected during the course of the
investigation.
5. In support of his submission, he relies upon the decision
of the Hon’ble Madras High Court in the case of
Manohari v. District Superintendent of Police and
Ors.,1 , more particularly paras 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and
24 thereof, which are reproduced hereunder for easy
reference:
“4. This Court framed the following question and sought
for the views of the various Bar Associations and
requested them to assist the Court.
i)Where a First Information Report is registered
under Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code and
in the course of investigation, the police finds that
no offence has been made out, where should the1 2018 SCC Online Madras 14216
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final report be filed? In the instant case, it is found
that the final report has been filed by the police
before the Revenue Divisional Officer, Thanjavur.
In this regard, the learned Government Advocate
(Criminal Side) appearing for the respondents
submits that this is the procedure that is being
followed in all cases, wherever the First
Information Report is registered under
Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code and the
police on investigation finds that no offence has
been made out.
6. Sections 174, 175 and 176 of Criminal Procedure
Code deal with inquiries into suicide or inquiries into
sudden, violent or unnatural deaths. Section 174
provides for such inquiries by the Police and Section 176,
by Judicial Magistrates. The object of the Inquest
Proceedings is merely to ascertain whether a person has
died under unnatural circumstances or an unnatural
death and if so, what is the cause of death. The question
regarding the details as to how the deceased was
assaulted or who assaulted him or under what
circumstances he was assaulted, is foreign to the ambit
and scope of proceedings under Section 174 of Criminal
Procedure Code. Infact the names of the assailants and
the manner of assault are not even required to be
mentioned in the Inquest Report. The purpose of holding
an inquest is very limited. It is done in order to ascertain
as to whether a person has committed suicide or has
been killed by another or by an animal or by machinery
or by an accident or has died under circumstances
raising a reasonable suspicion that some other person
has committed an offence.
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8. Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code peremptorily
requires that the Police Officer holding an inquest on a
dead body should do so at the spot. This mandate is
clear from the usage of the word “there” occurring in sub
Section 1 of Section 174. Section 174 (3) also requires
the Police Officer to forward the dead body, with a view
to its being examined, to the nearest Medical Officer
appointed in this behalf, by the State Government.
9. An Inquest Report is a report required to be made by
the Inquest Officer with respect to the apparent cause of
death. It is to be prepared in the presence of two or
more respectable inhabitants of the neighborhood and
has to describe the wounds, fractures, bruises and other
marks of injuries as are found on the dead body and
stating in what manner or by what weapon or instrument
[if any], such marks appear to have been inflicted.
Therefore, by a very reading of Section 174(1) of Cr.
P.C., it is clear that an Inquest Report need not even
state the manner in which the incident took place or the
names of the accused who caused the death.
10. As a general proposition of law an F.I.R loses its
authenticity if it is lodged after the Inquest Report is
recorded. However, there may be cases where a Police
Officer may receive a telephonic message or information
to the effect that the deceased person is lying in a
serious condition. In such cases the Police Officer may
have to rush to the spot and the situation may warrant
him to conduct an inquest and prepare a report on the
spot, and thereafter a F.I.R may be registered under
Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code. That by itself
does not make the F.I.R lose its authenticity. The reason
is not far to seek. A combined reading of Section 2(h)
and Section 157 of Cr. P.C. makes it clear that where an
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information regarding the cognizable offence is furnished
to the Police, that information will be regarded as the
FIR and all the inquiries held by the Police subsequent
there to would be treated as an investigation, even
though the formal registration of the F.I.R takes place
only later. Therefore, in such cases the Inquest Report
prepared by the Police Officer will be valid even though
the F.I.R came to be registered later.
11. The above discussion makes it clear as to what an
Inquest Report is all about. It is this Inquest report that
is contemplated under Section 174 (2) of Criminal
Procedure Code, that is to be forwarded to the District
Magistrate or the Sub Divisional Magistrate. On receipt
of such Inquest Report from the Police, Section 174 (4),
independently, empowers certain categories of
Magistrates to hold inquest. The legislature has thought
it fit that it is necessary that inquest should also be
conducted by an independent authority apart from the
Police. This power conferred under
Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code is more in the
nature of a fact finding inquiry and it does not have the
characteristic of a Judicial or Quasi Judicial proceeding.
The object of the inquiry is nothing more than to furnish
materials on which action might be taken and the report
by itself given by such Magistrate is more
recommendatory and it does not amount to a decision or
determination of rights of parties. Such report ultimately
will have to be submitted only to the Police. This report
will form part of the materials collected by the Police in
the course of investigation. Ultimately, the Police will
have to independently investigate the case and file a
Final Report after completion of the investigation under
Section 173 of Criminal Procedure Code.
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12. All the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners
and also for the respective Bar Associations,
unanimously submitted that the Police have wrongly
understood the term “report” used in Section 174
(2) of Cr. P.C. and has given it the meaning of a Final
Report. Where as the meaning to be assigned to the said
report is only the Inquest Report prepared by the Police
under Section 174(1) of Criminal Procedure Code. It was
also submitted that the purpose of the Inquest Report
prepared under Section 174(1) of Cr. P.C. by the
Executive Magistrate is only to aid the Investigating
Officer, in the course of investigation. Therefore, it was
submitted that a Final Report whether it is a positive
report or a Closure Report, can be submitted by the
Investigating Officer only before the concerned
Jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 173(2)
of Criminal Procedure Code.
24. In view of the above, this Court proceeds to answer
the issue that was raised in this case as follows:
a) The Police on receipt of an information about the
suspicious death shall registered an F.I.R under
Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code and
thereafter he can proceed to the scene of occurrence
and prepare an Inquest Report.
b) When a Police Officer receives an information to
the effect that the deceased is lying in a serious
condition, he can rush to the scene of occurrence, in
order to see if he can save the victim and if in case
the victim does not survive he can proceed to
prepare the Inquest Report in accordance with
Section 174(1) of Cr. P.C., and thereafter register an
F.I.R under Section 174 of Cr. P.C. The Inquest
Report has to describe the wounds, fractures, bruises
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and other marks of injuries as are found on the dead
body and state in what manner, or by what weapon
or instrument [if any], such marks appear to have
been inflicted.
c) The Police Officer shall also prepare a Rough
Sketch of the place of occurrence.
d) The Inquest Report and the Rough Sketch shall be
prepared in the presence of two or more respectable
inhabitants of the neighborhood.
e) The object of the Inquest Proceedings is merely to
ascertain whether a person has died under unnatural
circumstances or an unnatural death and if so, what
is the cause of death. The Inquest Report need not
contain details such as how the deceased was
assaulted or who assaulted him or under what
circumstances he was assaulted and these facts are
not within the scope of Inquest Proceedings and they
fall within the scope of the investigation to be
conducted by the Police.
f) immediately after the preparation of the Inquest
Report in accordance with Section 174(1) of Criminal
Procedure Code, the Police shall submit the same to
the Executive Magistrate under Section 174(2) in
order to enable the Executive Magistrate to hold an
independent inquest as contemplated under
Section 174(4) of Criminal Procedure Code.
g) The Executive Magistrate on completion of the
inquest shall submit a report to the Police and such
report shall form part of the investigation conducted
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by the Police and the Police shall collect details from
such report and conduct the investigation
accordingly.
h) The power of the Police to investigate is in no way
stopped or curtailed or interfered with by the inquest
held by the Executive Magistrate and the freedom of
the Police to proceed with the investigation will be
left untouched.
i) The Police on the conclusion of the investigation
shall file a Final Report under Section 173(2) of Cr.
P.C. only before the jurisdictional Magistrate and not
before the Executive Magistrate. This will apply, in
both cases, whether the Final Report is a positive
report or is a Closure Report.
j) If in case the Police proceeds to file a Closure
Report, the victim shall be entitled to be served with
a R.C.S notice in order to enable him to file a protest
Petition before the concerned Magistrate.
k) On such protest Petition being filed, the concerned
Judicial Magistrate shall act in accordance with law
laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vinay
Tyagi v. Irshad Ali, [(2013) 5 SCC 762].
24. It is made clear that in all future cases where the
F.I.R is registered under Section 174 of Cr. P.C., the
above procedure shall be scrupulously followed. A copy
of this order may be sent to the Director General of
Police, Chennai and also to the Inspector General of
Police in the various Zones in order to enable them to
sensitize the Police and give necessary instructions with
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regard to the manner in which the Police will have to
proceed in all cases where an FIR is registered under
Section 174 of Cr. P.C.”
6. A perusal of the exhaustive and well-reasoned judgment
of Justice Anand Venkatesh of the Hon’ble Madras High
Court in Manohari clearly indicates that the Court has
authoritatively explained the nature, scope and object of
proceedings under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973.
7. The Hon’ble Madras High Court has held that the mandate
of Section 174 requires the police officer to forward the
dead body for examination by the nearest Medical Officer
appointed by the State Government and thereafter
prepare an Inquest Report with respect to the apparent
cause of death in the presence of two or more
respectable inhabitants of the locality. Such report is
required to describe the wounds, fractures, bruises and
other marks of injury found on the body and the apparent
manner in which such injuries appear to have been
caused.
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8. The Hon’ble Madras High Court has further held that the
Inquest Report prepared under Section 174 of the CrPC is
not a final report. It merely forms part of the materials
collected during the course of investigation. Whether the
First Information Report is registered before or after the
preparation of the Inquest Report would not affect its
validity. The Inquest Report is only a fact-finding report
intended to ascertain the apparent cause of death and
does not conclude the investigation.
9. The judgment further makes it clear that the report
submitted by the Executive Magistrate pursuant to the
inquest is only intended to aid the investigation
conducted by the police. The power and duty of the
Investigating Officer to conduct an independent
investigation remain unaffected by the inquest
proceedings. Upon completion of the investigation, it is
incumbent upon the Investigating Officer to submit a final
report under Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 before the jurisdictional Judicial
Magistrate, irrespective of whether such report is a
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charge-sheet or a closure report. The Executive
Magistrate’s Inquest Report cannot be treated as a
substitute for, or equated with, the final report
contemplated under Section 173(2) of the CrPC.
10. Having so held, the Hon’ble Madras High Court, in
paragraph 24 of the judgment extracted supra, has laid
down the procedure to be followed by the police and the
Executive Magistrate in cases where proceedings are
initiated under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973. The principles so laid down squarely
govern the present case.
11. On and from the date of the Code of Criminal Procedure
being repealed by Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita,
2023 (BNSS) the said findings would be equally
applicable to Section 194 of the BNSS, 2023.
12. In view of the foregoing discussion, the submission of the
learned Additional Government Advocate that, under
Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or
Section 194 of the BNSS, 2023, the proceedings
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culminate upon submission of the Inquest Report to the
Executive Magistrate and that no further report is
required to be filed before the jurisdictional Judicial
Magistrate cannot be accepted. As authoritatively held by
the Hon’ble Madras High Court in Manohari, the Inquest
Report submitted by the Executive Magistrate is only one
of the materials collected during the course of
investigation. It neither concludes the investigation nor
constitutes the final report contemplated under Section
173(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Upon
completion of the investigation, it is incumbent upon the
Investigating Officer to file an appropriate final report
before the jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate seized of UDR
No.22/2023, in accordance with law, taking into
consideration the Inquest Report and the other materials
collected during the investigation.
13. In that view of the matter, this Court passes the
following:
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ORDER
i. The writ petition is allowed;
ii. A mandamus is issued directing respondent No.3 to
complete the investigation and file the final report
before the Court seized of UDR No.22/2023 i.e., the
Additional Civil Judge and JMFC Court, Sakleshpura;
iii. The Director General of Police is directed to forward
a copy of the order passed by the Hon’ble Madras
High Court in the case of Manohari (supra) in
English as also translated into Kannada to all
Investigating Officers along with a copy of this
order and file a compliance report within 4 weeks
from this date;
iv. Though the above matter is disposed, re-list on
25.08.2026 for reporting compliance.
Sd/-
(SURAJ GOVINDARAJ)
JUDGE
ND
List No.: 1 Sl No.: 9
