Once police file their final report (chargesheet), the investigation is completely closed forever.

Subsection (9) explicitly allows further investigation and supplementary reports even after the report is filed, including during trial with court permission.

The two-month deadline in subsection (2) applies to all criminal investigations.

It applies only to specific sexual offences listed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and POCSO Act, not to every crime.

Police can hide any evidence from the accused if they think it's inconvenient.

Under subsection (7), they can only ask the magistrate to withhold irrelevant or sensitive parts of a statement, with reasons given, and it is the magistrate who decides.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 193

Report of police officer on completion of investigation

(1) Every investigation under this Chapter shall be completed without unnecessary delay.§

(2) The investigation in relation to an offence under sections 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 or under sections 4, 6, 8 or section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 shall be completed within two months from the date on which the information was recorded by the officer in charge of the police station.§

(3) (i) As soon as the investigation is completed, the officer in charge of the police station shall forward, including through electronic communication to a Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence on a police report, a report in the form as the State Government may, by rules provide, stating—§

(a) the names of the parties;§

(b) the nature of the information;§

(d) whether any offence appears to have been committed and, if so, by whom;§

(e) whether the accused has been arrested;§

(f) whether the accused has been released on his bond or bail bond;§

(g) whether the accused has been forwarded in custody under section 190;§

(h) whether the report of medical examination of the woman has been attached where investigation relates to an offence under sections 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70 or section 71 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023;§

(i) the sequence of custody in case of electronic device;§

(ii) the police officer shall, within a period of ninety days, inform the progress of the investigation by any means including through electronic communication to the informant or the victim;§

(iii) the officer shall also communicate, in such manner as the State Government may, by rules, provide, the action taken by him, to the person, if any, by whom the information relating to the commission of the offence was first given.§

(4) Where a superior officer of police has been appointed under section 177, the report shall, in any case in which the State Government by general or special order so directs, be submitted through that officer, and he may, pending the orders of the Magistrate, direct the officer in charge of the police station to make further investigation.§

(5) Whenever it appears from a report forwarded under this section that the accused has been released on his bond or bail bond, the Magistrate shall make such order for the discharge of such bond or bail bond or otherwise as he thinks fit.§

(6) When such report is in respect of a case to which section 190 applies, the police officer shall forward to the Magistrate along with the report—§

(a) all documents or relevant extracts thereof on which the prosecution proposes to rely other than those already sent to the Magistrate during investigation;§

(b) the statements recorded under section 180 of all the persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses.§

(7) If the police officer is of opinion that any part of any such statement is not relevant to the subject matter of the proceedings or that its disclosure to the accused is not essential in the interests of justice and is inexpedient in the public interest, he shall indicate that part of the statement and append a note requesting the Magistrate to exclude that part from the copies to be granted to the accused and stating his reasons for making such request.§

(8) Subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (7), the police officer investigating the case shall also submit such number of copies of the police report along with other documents duly indexed to the Magistrate for supply to the accused as required under section 230: Provided that supply of report and other documents by electronic communication shall be considered as duly served.§

(9) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to preclude further investigation in respect of an offence after a report under sub-section (3) has been forwarded to the Magistrate and, where upon such investigation, the officer in charge of the police station obtains further evidence, oral or documentary, he shall forward to the Magistrate a further report or reports regarding such evidence in the form as the State Government may, by rules, provide; and the provisions of sub-sections (3) to (8) shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to such report or reports as they apply in relation to a report forwarded under sub-section (3): Provided that further investigation during the trial may be conducted with the permission of the Court trying the case and the same shall be completed within a period of ninety days which may be extended with the permission of the Court.§

Why this exists

This provision descends from Section 173 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which itself codified colonial-era investigation procedures. The goal has always been to prevent police from sitting on cases indefinitely, to give courts a structured document (the police report or 'chargesheet') to decide whether to proceed to trial, and to protect the rights of both the accused (through disclosure of evidence) and victims (through updates and safeguards like medical reports in sexual offence cases). The 2023 update added explicit time limits, electronic communication options, victim update duties, and rules for handling digital evidence chains-of-custody, reflecting modern investigative realities and past criticism of slow, opaque policing.

How courts read it

Under the predecessor Section 173 CrPC, courts repeatedly held that the police report (chargesheet) is not the final word — magistrates can order further investigation, and courts can permit further investigation even after a chargesheet or during trial. Judgments emphasized that failure to complete investigation quickly, especially in sexual offence cases, undermines victims' rights and public confidence, which fed into the two-month deadline now written into subsection (2). Courts have also stressed that withholding parts of witness statements from the accused (as allowed under what is now subsection (7)) must be used sparingly and only for genuine public interest, not to shield weak investigation.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Once police file their final report (chargesheet), the investigation is completely closed forever.
Fact: Subsection (9) explicitly allows further investigation and supplementary reports even after the report is filed, including during trial with court permission.
Myth: The two-month deadline in subsection (2) applies to all criminal investigations.
Fact: It applies only to specific sexual offences listed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and POCSO Act, not to every crime.
Myth: Police can hide any evidence from the accused if they think it's inconvenient.
Fact: Under subsection (7), they can only ask the magistrate to withhold irrelevant or sensitive parts of a statement, with reasons given, and it is the magistrate who decides.