Under Section 173 of the Cr.P.C, an charge sheet is a report made by a law enforcement officer after investigating a case. It is submitted to the court for the commencement of criminal proceedings. An charge sheet is a final report prepared by an investigative or law enforcement agency to prove an allegation of a crime in a criminal court. A report is usually filed by a police officer and establishes that the defendant is involved in or has committed a crime punishable under the Penal Code in force in India. This report includes and embodies all the rigorous record keeping from initiating the investigation process to submit the FIR to completing the investigation and producing the final report.

When an charge sheet is filed with a criminal court, the court determines which defendants have sufficient prima facie evidence to stand trial. Based on the charge sheet and other recorded findings, the judge formulates charges against the defendant, whether or not the defendant pleads guilty. Indictments are an important mechanism by which judges research and pre-investigate in order to understand a criminal’s guilt in a crime. On the basis of the charge sheet, the judge can call the charges brought, but if, in the course of the investigation, the defendant challenges the charges brought by the police, the “examination” stage will be held without further delay. You get points right away. .

However, it refers to a formal police record  showing the names of each person brought in to the custody, the nature of the accusations, and the identity of the accusers. It is also known as four part charging instrument containing:

1. Information about the accused and the witnesses.
2. The charges and specifications
3. The preferring of charges and their referral to a summary.
4. For the trial record.

Purpose of a Charge-sheet
The purpose of a charge-sheet is to notify a person of criminal charges being issued against them. After the charge-sheet is filed, the person against whom the charge-sheet has been filed comes to be known as an accused. The filing of charge-sheet with the magistrate indicates commencement of criminal proceedings.

Benefits of Charge Sheet

• It is an essential report which initiates criminal proceeding against the accused.
• Statement of the accused, as well as others, are stated.
• Charges which are framed against the accused are cited.
• It helps the accused in obtaining bail to some extent.
• Without a charge sheet, no criminal trial can begin.

Contents of Charge Sheet

According to section 173(2) of CrPC following shall be the contents of the charge sheet:

• Name of parties.
• Nature of information.
• Names of persons acquainted with the case.
• Whether any offence has been committed or not? If so, by whom.
• Whether the accused is arrested or not?
• Has the accused been released on bond, and if yes, surety and bond details to be mentioned.
• Whether the accused has been forwarded to custody under Sec.170 of Cr.P.C?
• Whether the medical examination report has been attached with the charge sheet if the offence is related to rape under Sec.376, 376 A to E of I.P.C ?
• The officer shall also communicate in the manner prescribed by State Government if he has taken any action in response to the person giving FIR.

Note: After receiving the charge sheet, if the magistrate is not satisfied with the investigation, he may order further investigation under section 173(8) of CrPC.

Time Limit for Filing Charge Sheet

Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code provides for the grant of default bail to an accused if the probe agency fails to conclude the investigation and file a charge sheet within a stipulated period of either 60 or 90 days in a court of competent jurisdiction

According to CrPC, the prescribed time limit for filing charge sheet is as follows:

1. Offence triable by Magistrate: 60 days
2. Offences triable by Sessions Court: 90 days

If the charge sheet is not filed within the prescribed time mentioned above, the accused has a right to default bail.

Quashing of Charge Sheet

Several false cases are on the rise nowadays, filed to harass the accused, and some are filed out of grudge. There are provisions for the accused to come out acquitted in such situations. For this, the accused has to approach the High Court of the concerned State and file a petition under Sec 483 of Cr.P.C, by which the High Court can quash the FIR/charge-sheet by exercising inherent jurisdiction on the following grounds.

• When the court is satisfied that FIR is filed only to harass the accused.
• When the allegations mentioned in FIR cannot be proved.
• When the FIR is filed for a non-cognizable offence and the concerned police officer has filed the same without obtaining permission of the magistrate under Sec 155 of Cr.P.C.
• When the charges against the accused are falsely reflected on the charge sheet.

Need of Quashing Charge Sheet

Devendra vs State of UP 2009 SCC 495 – A civil wrong and a criminal wrong must be well distinguished. When only a civil wrong has been made out, the courts shall not allow a person to be harassed as no case of taking cognizance arises.

Wrapping up: Law is for society and against the guilty. Nowadays, police harass the accused to extort money by filing fabricated charge sheets and fake pieces of evidence in court. Courts should come out against such errant officers by punishing them. Advanced society demands smart laws, which is the need of the hour.

Is charge sheet filed after investigation?

“There is no bar for filing charge sheet by the Sub-inspector of Police who is also in-charge of the police station. The preliminary investigation is done by the police inspector. Therefore, the Police Sub-inspector filed a charge sheet who received the complaint and filed the charge sheet,” Hegde submitted.

A charge sheet is distinct from the First Information Report (FIR)

which is the core document that describes  a crime that has been  committed. It usually refers to one or more FIR(s). Once the charge     sheet has been submitted to a court of law, prosecution proceedings begin in the judicial system. In India section 173 of criminal procedure code, 1973 contains the provision relating to charge sheet which form an pertinent part of the procedural law which embodies all the details relating to the name of the Informant/complainant, the accused and victim, any witness, items  or articles seized, date ,time and place of occurrence of the crime, the name of the investigating officer, the medical reports if ant made, the FIR number, the true findings of the case diary etc.

What is the difference between charge and charge sheet under CrPC

If prima facie the commission of a cognisable offence is revealed then the police officer must prepare a police report or commonly known as a “charge-sheet” on the basis of the investigation conducted by him or his competent subordinates. The magistrate is then entitled to take cognisance of the case.

Is charge sheet compulsory?

P.C does not impose an obligation on the officer-in-charge to arrest every accused at the time of filing of the charge sheet. If the Investigating Officer does not believe that the accused will abscond or disobey summons he/she is not required to be produced in custody.

By Whom and Before Whom can a Charge-sheet be filed?
The Officer-in-Charge of the police station which conducts the investigation files the charge-sheet before the magistrate who has jurisdiction to take cognizance of the matter.

The Magistrate cannot take cognizance of a crime before filing of a charge-sheet. In R.R. Chari v. State of U.P, it was observed that taking cognizance refers to the application of judicial mind before the court. This means that before the charge-sheet is filed, the Magistrate cannot form an opinion as to the guilt or otherwise of the accused.

In J. Jayalalitha v. State, the Court held as follows:
Section 173(8) of Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the prosecution to further investigate into the matter in respect of any offence, even after filing a report under Section 173(2) of Code of Criminal Procedure and to file a further report or reports regarding such evidence; and in which event the procedure provided under Section 173(2) to (6) shall apply again.
However, in Ram Lal Narang v, State, Delhi Administration it was held that the only requirement under Section 173 (8) is that the police officer inform the court and seek its permission before embarking on further investigation.

Moreover, in Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police & Anr., the court also observed that even after filing of the charge-sheet, if the court is not satisfied, the Magistrate may order for further investigation.

Conclusion

Criminal investigations are very thorough. It involves many steps that must be followed with great care. One mistake can lead to acquittal of the perpetrator. The police are doing everything in their power to investigate the case.The investigation begins with knowledge of the criminal offense up to the submission of a §173 report to the magistrate. After the trial is over and the court finds evidence that he committed the crime, the culprit is convicted.