Difference between Cognizable and Non-Cognizable

Offence
Offence refers to an illegal act or crime that is punishable in nature and against which a complaint can be registered with police
or magistrate etc. An offence can be classified as a cognizable offence and non-cognizable offence. Let us see how cognizable
offence differs from non-cognizable offence!

Cognizable Offence:
A cognizable offence is an offence in which the police officer as per the first schedule or under any other law for the time being
in force, can arrest the convict without a warrant and can start an investigation without the permission of the court. Cognizable
offences are generally heinous or serious in nature such as murder, rape, kidnapping, theft, dowry death etc. The first
information report (FIR) is registered only in cognizable crimes.

Under section 154 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), a police officer is bound to register an FIR in case of a cognizable crime. He
can also conduct some kind of preliminary inquiry before registering the FIR. In these offences, a convict is arrested and
produced before the magistrate in the stipulated time. Owing to the serious nature of the crime, court?s approval is implicit in
cognizable offences.

Non-Cognizable Offence:
A non-cognizable offence is the offence listed under the first schedule of the Indian Penal Code and is bailable in nature. In case
of a non-cognizable offence, the police cannot arrest the accused without a warrant as well as cannot start an investigation
without the permission of the court. The crimes of forgery, cheating, defamation, public nuisance, etc., fall in the category of
non-cognizable crimes.

In this type of crimes, a criminal complaint is lodged with the metropolitan magistrate who is supposed to order the concerned
police station to initiate an investigation. The police officer is supposed to file the charge sheet with the court which is followed
by a trial. After the trial, if the accused is found guilty, the court passes the order to issue the warrant to arrest the accused.

Based on the above information, some of the key differences between Cognizable and Non-Cognizable offence are as follows:

Cognizable Non-Cognizable

It is the offence in which a police officer can arrest the It is the offence in which a police officer cannot arrest a
convict without the warrant. person without the warrant.

The police can start a preliminary investigation without the The police officer cannot start the investigation without the
permission of the court or without registering the FIR. permission of the court.

These are heinous crimes like murder, rape, dowry death These crimes are not so serious like forgery, cheating,
etc. defamation etc.

The victim can file an FIR or make a complaint to the The victim can only make a complaint to the magistrate.
magistrate.

It is defined in the Section 2(c) of the Criminal Procedure It is defined in Section 2(I) of Criminal Procedure Code 1973.
Code, 1973.

The police officer is bound to register the FIR even without The police officer is not bound to register the FIR or cannot
the permission of Magistrate. register the FIR without prior permission of the magistrate.

It is a non-bailable offence. It is a bailable offence.

Difference Between Cognizable and Non-
Cognizable Offence
Offence implies an illegal act or a crime. In finer terms, offence entails any act, which is punishable in nature
and against which a complaint is registered, with the appropriate authority, i.e. police or magistrate. The
offence can be classified as a cognizable offence and non-cognizable offence, wherein the cognizable offence
means the one in which the police can arrest the accused without a warrant.

On the other hand, the non-cognizable offence can be described as the offence in which the police cannot
arrest any person without warrant and express permission of the court is also required for investigation.
When it comes to crimes, one should know about the differences between cognizable and non-cognizable
offence, to understand the law in a better way.

Content: Cognizable Offence Vs Non-Cognizable Offence

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Conclusion

Comparison Chart
BASIS FOR COGNIZABLE NON-COGNIZABLE
COMPARISON OFFENCE OFFENCE

Meaning Cognizable offence is one Non-cognizable offences refers

in which the police is to the offences in which the
authorized to take police has no authority to
cognizance of the crime at apprehend a person for crime
its own. on its own.

Arrest Without warrant Requires warrant

Approval of Court Not required to begin Prior approval of court is

investigation. required to begin
investigation.

Offence Heinous Comparatively less heinous

Includes Murder, rape, theft, Forgery, cheating, assault,

kidnapping, etc. defamation etc.

Petition FIR and complaint Complaint only.

Definition of Cognizable Offence

The offence in which the police officer does not require any warrant to arrest the accused and has the
authority to begin an investigation without any permission of the court is known as a cognizable offence. In
such kind of offences, once the accused is arrested, he/she will be produced before the magistrate, in the
stipulated time. As the crime is serious in nature, court’s approval is implicit, in cognizable offences.

The first information report, commonly termed as FIR is lodged only in case of cognizable crimes. Cognizable
Offences are severe crimes which include murder, rape, rioting, theft, dowry death, kidnapping, criminal
breach of trust and other heinous offences.

Definition of Non-Cognizable Offence

Non-cognizable offences are the offences listed under the first schedule of the Indian Penal Code and are
bailable in nature. When an offence is non-cognizable, the police has no right to arrest the accused without a
warrant, as well as they are not entitled to start an investigation without prior approval of the court. It
includes crimes like forgery, assault, cheating, defamation, public nuisance, hurt, mischief etc.

In non-cognizable offence judicial process initiates by lodging a criminal complaint with the metropolitan
magistrate, who then orders the concerned police station to investigate the crime accordingly, after which a
charge sheet is filed with the court, which is followed by the trial. After the trial, the court will pass orders
regarding the issue of a warrant to arrest the accused.

Key Differences Between Cognizable and Non-Cognizable

Offence
The following points are relevant with respect to the difference between cognizable and non-cognizable
offence:

1. The offence in which the cognizance of the crime is taken by the police on its own, as it does not need
to wait for court’s approval, is known as a cognizable offence. On the other hand, non-cognizable
offence, as the name suggests, is the offence in which the police has no authority to apprehend a
person for crime on its own, as explicit permission of the court is required.
2. In cognizable offence, the police can arrest a person without any warrant. As against this, a warrant is
must in the case of non-cognizable offence.
3. In cognizable offence, court’s order is not required to start an investigation. Conversely, in the non-
cognizable offence, first of all, court’s order should be obtained for undertaking an investigation.
4. Cognizable offences are heinous crimes, whereas non-cognizable offences are not so serious.
5. Cognizable offence encompasses murder, rape, theft, kidnapping, counterfeiting, etc. On the contrary,
non-cognizable offences include offences like forgery, cheating, assault, defamation and so forth.
6. For a cognizable offence, one can file FIR or make a complaint to the magistrate. Unlike, in case of
non-cognizable offence one can only make a complaint to the magistrate.

Conclusion

Depending on the severity of the crime, cognizable offences are either bailable or non-bailable in nature,
whereas non-cognizable offences are bailable offences. The punishment for non-cognizable offences is
imprisonment for less than three years or sometimes fine only, whereas cognizable offences attract
punishment with imprisonment for three years or more.