Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 192 BNSS: Diary of Proceedings in Investigation
Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) requires the investigating police officer to maintain a day-to-day case diary recording the progress of investigation. It also regulates how criminal courts may use such diaries and limits access by the accused.
What Section 192 BNSS requires
The provision creates a formal record of the investigation. Every investigating police officer must make daily entries stating when information was received, when the investigation began and ended, the places visited, and the circumstances ascertained. Statements of witnesses recorded under Section 180 BNSS must be inserted in the case diary.
The case diary must be maintained as a duly paginated volume. A criminal court may call for and use the police diary to assist the inquiry or trial, but the diary itself is not evidence in the case.
Text of Section 192 BNSS
192. (1) Every police officer making an investigation under this Chapter shall day by day enter his proceedings in the investigation in a diary, setting forth the time at which the information reached him, the time at which he began and closed his investigation, the place or places visited by him, and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his investigation.
(2) The statements of witnesses recorded during the course of investigation under section 180 shall be inserted in the case diary.
(3) The diary referred to in sub-section (1) shall be a volume and duly paginated.
(4) Any Criminal Court may send for the police diaries of a case under inquiry or trial in such Court, and may use such diaries, not as evidence in the case, but to aid it in such inquiry or trial.
(5) Neither the accused nor his agents shall be entitled to call for such diaries, nor shall he or they be entitled to see them merely because they are referred to by the Court; but, if they are used by the police officer who made them to refresh his memory, or if the Court uses them for the purpose of contradicting such police officer, the provisions of section 148 or section 164, as the case may be, of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, shall apply.
Key requirements of the police case diary
- Daily entries: The investigating officer must record proceedings day by day.
- Timing details: The diary must record when information reached the officer and when the investigation began and ended.
- Places visited: The locations visited during investigation must be recorded.
- Circumstances ascertained: The diary should contain the circumstances discovered through investigation.
- Witness statements: Statements recorded under Section 180 BNSS are to be inserted in the case diary.
- Paginated volume: The case diary must be kept as a duly paginated volume.
Can the Court use the police diary as evidence?
No. Section 192(4) permits a criminal court to call for the police diary and use it to aid the inquiry or trial, but expressly states that the diary is not evidence in the case. Its purpose is therefore assistive rather than evidentiary.
Can the accused inspect the case diary?
Section 192(5) restricts access. The accused or the accused's agents are not entitled to call for the police diaries or inspect them merely because the Court has referred to them. A limited exception arises when the police officer uses the diary to refresh memory or when the Court uses it to contradict that police officer.
In those situations, Section 192(5) makes the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 applicable, namely Section 148 or Section 164, as the case may be.
Relationship with Section 180 BNSS and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam
Section 180 BNSS concerns examination of witnesses by police during investigation. Section 192(2) requires those statements to be inserted into the case diary. Section 192(5), in turn, regulates the evidentiary consequences where the diary is used by the police officer to refresh memory or by the Court to contradict that officer, by referring to Sections 148 and 164 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
Practical importance of Section 192
A properly maintained case diary creates a contemporaneous record of the steps taken during investigation. It can assist the Court in understanding the course and sequence of the investigation, while the statutory restrictions on its use and disclosure preserve the distinction between an investigative record and evidence formally proved at trial.
Official legal resources
For authoritative reference, consult the current text of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 through official Government sources. In litigation or legal advice, the current statute, applicable notifications, rules and binding judicial decisions should also be checked.
Note: This article provides general legal information and is not a substitute for case-specific legal advice.