Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 178, BNSS: Power to hold investigation or preliminary inquiry
Section 178 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in the Act's own words, with the CrPC provision it replaces.
What it replaces
| BNSS provision | CrPC provision | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Section 178 | Section 159 | corresponds |
From the Bureau of Police Research and Development's official comparison summary (source below). The whole table: CrPC to BNSS.
The section
178. Power to hold investigation or preliminary inquiry.
The Magistrate, on receiving a report under section 176, may direct an investigation, or, if he thinks fit, at once proceed, or depute any Magistrate subordinate to him to proceed, to hold a preliminary inquiry into, or otherwise to dispose of, the case in the manner provided in this Sanhita.The text is India Code's consolidated text as loaded into Pundora's statute corpus on 1 September 2026. A section quoted in a draft checked by Pundora is checked against this text.
Sources
- India Code: Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, section 178 (read 1 September 2026)
- Bureau of Police Research and Development: comparison summary, BNSS to CrPC (read 1 September 2026)