Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 188 BNSS - Report of Investigation by Subordinate Police Officer

Section 188 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 creates a direct reporting duty when an investigation under the relevant BNSS investigation chapter is carried out by a subordinate police officer. The subordinate officer must report the result of that investigation to the officer in charge of the police station.

Updated: 11 September 2026

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Meaning of Section 188 BNSS

Section 188 applies where a subordinate police officer has conducted an investigation under the investigation chapter of the BNSS. Once that investigation has been carried out, the subordinate officer is required to report its result to the officer in charge of the police station.

The provision is short, but it performs an important supervisory function. It ensures that investigative work delegated to a subordinate officer is brought back to the officer in charge, who remains responsible for the police station and for the further statutory steps required in the investigation.

Text of Section 188 BNSS

188. Report of investigation by subordinate police officer.

When any subordinate police officer has made any investigation under this Chapter, he shall report the result of such investigation to the officer in charge of the police station.

Who must report and to whom?

Question Section 188 requirement
Who has the duty? The subordinate police officer who has made the investigation.
When does the duty arise? After the subordinate officer has made an investigation under the relevant Chapter.
What must be reported? The result of the investigation.
To whom? The officer in charge of the police station.

Scope of the reporting obligation

The statutory text requires the subordinate officer to report the result of the investigation to the officer in charge. Section 188 itself does not prescribe a separate detailed form for that report or create a separate judicial filing by the subordinate officer.

Accordingly, Section 188 should be read as an internal statutory reporting step within the police investigation process. Other provisions of the BNSS govern matters such as the manner of investigation, maintenance of the case diary, remand, release where evidence is deficient, forwarding of the accused where evidence is sufficient, and the police report on completion of investigation.

Connection with Section 176 BNSS - procedure for investigation

Section 176 permits the officer in charge, in the circumstances specified there, to proceed personally or to depute a subordinate police officer of the prescribed rank to investigate the facts and circumstances of the case. Section 188 complements that delegated-investigation framework by requiring the subordinate officer to report the result back to the officer in charge.

In practical terms: Section 176 can place investigative work in the hands of a subordinate officer; Section 188 ensures the outcome of that work returns to the officer in charge for supervision and further action under the BNSS.

Connection with Section 193 - police report on completion of investigation

Section 188 should not be confused with the final police report contemplated by Section 193. Section 188 concerns the subordinate investigating officer reporting the result to the officer in charge of the police station. Section 193, by contrast, governs the police report forwarded to the Magistrate when the investigation is completed.

This distinction helps explain the sequence: subordinate investigative work may first be reported internally under Section 188, while the officer in charge remains responsible for the statutory completion-stage report to the Magistrate under Section 193.

Practical effect of Section 188 BNSS

  • It creates a clear chain of reporting within the police station when investigation is conducted by a subordinate officer.
  • It enables the officer in charge to receive the result of delegated investigative work before deciding or carrying out subsequent statutory steps.
  • It supports supervisory responsibility over investigations conducted by subordinate personnel.
  • It should be read together with the surrounding investigation provisions rather than as a complete code for preparing a final police report.

Official legal resources

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, subject to the exception specified in the Central Government notification concerning the First Schedule entry relating to Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.